


You Make It Easy

by time_stops



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Birthday Smut, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Friends With Benefits, Friendship, Gratuitous Smut, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Mutual Pining, Pining, Sexual Tension, Shameless Smut, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Smut, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Young Sirius Black
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:55:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 33,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26554696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/time_stops/pseuds/time_stops
Summary: For somebody so great at sex, Sirius Black sure does suck at the whole friends-with-benefits thing.
Relationships: Euphemia Potter/Fleamont Potter, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Marauders & Lily Evans Potter, Remus Lupin & James Potter, Sirius Black & Euphemia Potter, Sirius Black & James Potter, Sirius Black & Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & Peter Pettigrew & James Potter, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & Peter Pettigrew & James Potter & Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Original Character(s), Sirius Black/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 46
Kudos: 158





	1. Lightning Strikes Inside My Veins

**Author's Note:**

> Title From Red Hearse's "You Make It Easy". All rights to their respective owner.  
> "Hm-hm, now it's all my fault  
> I'm to blame that I'm alone  
> Holding my phone  
> Waiting for a voice on the line  
> Saying "I cannot sleep tonight"  
> If I get too close, you run away  
> Tried to make you mine a hundred times  
> You let me inside the other day  
> Can't get you off my mind  
> Now I'll never want another  
> You left a mark that just can't come off  
> Now I'll never want another  
> Never learn my lesson  
> I'm falling back apart  
> 'Cause of you  
> Like I tend to do  
> You make it easy, oh  
> You make it easy, oh  
> I'm falling back apart  
> 'Cause of you  
> Like I tend to do  
> You make it easy, oh  
> You make it easy, oh  
> I'm falling back apart  
> 'Cause of you  
> Like I tend to do  
> You make it easy, oh  
> You make it easy, oh  
> I don't try  
> I don't try to get too high  
> Because of you  
> You make it easy  
> You make it easy  
> I guess I'd rather be a prisoner  
> Waitin' for your touch  
> I don't need much  
> Just a little once in a while, yeah  
> It helps me sleep at night  
> Oh, guess you love to leave me hangin'  
> Guess you love to be the stranger  
> Just passing me by, but I"  
> -"You Make It Easy", Red Hearse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from The National Parks' "Come Closer."  
> When you're next to me  
> I feel my heart race  
> When lightning strikes  
> Inside my veins  
> When you're next to me  
> I feel my heart race  
> When _lightning strikes_  
>  Inside my veins  
> -"Come Closer," The National Parks

Upon first meeting Sirius Black all those years ago, her first thought was that he was exactly the kind of boy her father would want for her to marry. _If he spoke fluent Italian,_ she thought wryly, _he would’ve handed a dowry over right there and then, in the middle of Platform 9 and 3/4s._ Looking at him now though, the train hadn’t even left, and she could already see him through the window with some girl splayed across his lap like some sort of X-rated mall Santa that Muggle Americans loved so much. She was quite sure that there could be no bigger nightmare for her father than the idea of his eldest daughter, his _dolcezza, piccolina, carissima,_ traipsing around this British school with Hogwarts’ biggest playboy.  


“Aria!”  


She turned and couldn’t contain her smile. “Lily!”  


Lily squealed and embraced Aria, clutching her tightly. “You are never leaving for the whole summer again!”  


Aria pulled away and flashed her friend a cheeky grin. “Or if I do you’re coming with me.”  


“That sounds like an even better idea.” The girls began the arduous process of hoisting their heavy luggage onto the train. “So you must tell me everything - are Greek boys cuter than their British counterparts?”  


“Significantly, although there’s something distinctly unsexy about your father matchmaking you all summer,” Aria said with a laugh. “So what about you? You didn’t mention any boys this summer in any of your letters, not even Bakery Boy who you usually spend all summer panting and carbo-loading over.”  


“Hmm? Oh no, no boys for me,” said Lily with a tight laugh. “Not all of us can do your thing with your hair and instantly have everyone drooling over us.”  


Aria stopped trying to leverage her trunk onto the train. In all the years she’d known and loved Lily, there hadn’t been a single September first where they hadn’t discussed the boys that Lily had met and fallen briefly in love with over the summer. “Lil, I’ve seen a boy sneak up behind you and cut a snip of hair off because it was ‘the most lovely shade of red’ he’d ever seen. If there were no boys this summer, it’s because you didn’t want one.”  


Lily’s cheeks began to resemble her fiery red hair, but luckily there was something else to divert her best friend’s attention.  


“Ariana, help us with this please!”  


She turned and saw her father, trying to wrangle her two younger siblings, Eleanora and Vincenzo onto the train, but there seemed to be a mishap with the cage for Vincenzo’s owl. Aria sighed and turned to Lily. “Go,” said Lily, waving her away. “I’ve got your trunk.”  


Aria nodded and weaved through the crowd.  


“Ari, Papa said there’s no proper lunch on the train, is that true? Do we only eat candy?”  


“No, _fiore,_ I’ve packed something for you to eat so your stomach doesn’t explode from all the sugar,” said Aria, ruffling her sister’s black curls. “Now get on the train before all the good spots are taken. Take your owl - Ellie where’s your cat?”  


Ellie shrugged. “She went on ahead. She hated Apparating here.”  


“We’ll find her on the train, for now help your brother with the cage and then get your _culos_ on the train.”  


Ellie kissed their father, reaching up on tiptoes to meet his bearded cheek. Enzo hugged him, eleven years old and already embarrassed to say goodbye to his dad. The twins bounded onto the train, waving.  


“Bye Papa,” Aria said, kissing her father’s cheeks. “I’ll watch over the twins.”  


Her father’s face, lined and hardened, gazed at his daughter. “Thank you, Ariana. If anything happens, and I do mean anything, write to me and I’ll come for you three right away.”  


“Nothing will happen, Papa. Hogwarts is safe,” Aria said, squeezing his hand reassuringly. “I’ll watch the twins carefully and write at least twice a week.”  


“Three times,” he corrected. A long blast rang out over the throng of parents and siblings all saying their goodbyes. These days goodbyes were rushed like everything else, but packed with the same kind of meaning that dying patients put behind their words: _in case this is the last time I ever see you..._  


“Goodbye, Papa.” With one last kiss and a smile that nearly brought a tear to her father’s eyes (she looked more and more like her mother each day), she left, hopping on the scarlet steam engine. Lily was in the first compartment to her left when she entered, already situated with Enzo and Ellie, who were waving out the window to their father. Ellie’s cat had already found a spot on the seat and curled up on it.  


“Bye Papa! _Ti vogliamo bene!”_  


Aria joined her siblings and Lily at the window. Mr. and Mrs. Evans stood by Aria’s father, tears in their sparkling green eyes. _“Ti amo, i miei tresori._ Ariana, don’t forget that you’re coming home at Christmas so we can finalize -”  


“Of course, Papa!” The train picked up speed and began its trek into the British countryside. Aria watched until the platform was a small speck and she could no longer hear the sobs of those who were sending their children off. There seemed to be more crying this year. “No Petunia this year?” she murmured to Lily, who pulled a sour face.  


“Oh yes, she’s met a ghastly bloke who deserves her. I’m sure their spawn will be positively garish.”  


Aria laughed. She always was struck by how much she’d missed Lily during the holiday. It was a tradition nearly as crucial to their Hogwarts Express experience as -  


“Alright, Evans?”  


They turned. _Like clockwork,_ Aria thought wryly.  


Standing in the door to their compartment, leaning in the positive picture of faux casualness, was James Potter. His hair was still rumpled and unruly, although it looked as though he’d become acquainted with a decent barber over holiday. He’d already changed into his Gryffindor robes, but his scarlet and gold tie was draped over his shoulders.  


To his right lounged Sirius Black. Aria briefly wondered how he’d managed to have a full snogging session with some girl and change into his robes when the train had barely left, but then decided there was no way she’d want to know the answer. He was the epitome of aristocratic arrogance, with chiseled cheekbones and jaw, thick eyebrows that were perpetually pulled into a lazy sort of quirk, and grey eyes that roved around the compartment before landing on Aria.  


“Potter, Black,” said Aria. “Aren’t you two missing a few ponces? I didn’t realize you could operate at half capacity.”  


“Bellisario, with your accent even your insults sound sexy,” drawled Black, his voice rumbling through the compartment.  


Aria was quite certain nobody had ever been able to piss her off like Sirius Black could; some, like Lily, were gifted at Potions; some like Potter, were gifted at Transfiguration; and some, like Black, had the uncanny ability to crawl under her skin and fester there like an open wound. His arrogance, his constant bravado, his incessant digs and flirtations (which came wrapped up in an infuriatingly tangled bunch) made him scum beneath her shoes.  


Of course nobody, not even Ariana Bellisario, president of the Sirius Black is a Massive Ponce Who Should Never Be Able to Reproduce Lest His Genes Be Passed On (of which she was the only member, but that didn’t stop her from making shirts) could deny that Sirius Black was gorgeous. Stupidly gorgeous. Heart-stopping, mind-numbing, bend-you-over-and-fuck-you-like-never-before kind of gorgeous. But she was her mother’s daughter, through and through, and she had all of her father’s Bellisario pride, and so she steered clear of anything and everything Sirius Black related.  


“Who are these lot?”  


Of course, nobody, not even Sirius Black, who thought Ariana Bellisario was a stuck-up snob with a remarkable affinity for being a teacher’s pet, could deny that Ariana Bellisario was the most gorgeous woman he’d ever laid eyes on. He and Remus spent one weekend in the library in Third Year confirming their suspicions; she was part Veela. She had hair that, if Sirius had absolutely no self-respect, could be described as “cascading in perfect chocolate ringlets down her back” (but he did have self-respect, so he would just say she had curly brown hair). Her eyes were big and surrounded by the kinds of lashes that Muggle mascara ads could only dream of, and they were a shade of hazel that in just the right lights could appear rich green or shining amber or glistering gold -  


Sirius was jolted out of his Bellisario-induced stupor, and turned to the boy who had spoken. He had black curls and the same hazel eyes that Bellisario did. He was seated next to a girl who was petting a small grey kitten, and whose face was obscured by ringlets.  


“Ellie, Enzo, this is Potter and that’s Black,” said Lily. Sirius noticed Lily for the first time. Her face was an uncharacteristically pink shade, and she couldn’t seem to meet James’ eyes. “These are Aria’s twin siblings, Ellie and Enzo.”  


“They’re First Years, so you lot leave them alone,” commanded Aria, pointing one finger at the Sixth Year boys who had made it their own personal tradition to annoy the living daylights out of them on the Hogwarts Express ride each year.  


“Hey guys, I’m James.” He extended a hand to Enzo and Ellie. Enzo shook, looking at James and Sirius with the kind of reverence that most of the lower years tended to regard the Marauders with, but Ellie remained engrossed with her kitten. Aria sat down and began rifling through her bags for the lunches she had packed for her, Enzo, Ellie, and Lily.  


“What’s your cat’s name?”  


Aria looked up, surprised. Sirius had taken a seat next to Ellie, and was looking at the tiny cat in her arms. Ellie looked comically small next to Sirius, who stretched his long legs out, while Ellie’s toes barely touched the floor.  


Ellie looked up at Sirius. “Amorina.” Her cheeks colored a bit when she saw who she was speaking to. “Is Black your last name?”  


“Yeah. What’s Ellie short for?” He began scratching behind the kitten’s little ears, making her purr. Aria couldn’t believe her eyes, her hunt for the chicken piccata totally forgotten; arrogant, asshole Black, sitting next to her baby sister, making polite introductions?  


“Eleanora. What’s your first name?”  


“Sirius. What does Amorina mean?”  


“It’s Italian for ‘little lovely.’”  


Aria had had enough. “Black, may I ask what it is exactly that you’re doing here?”  


He turned to her, still scratching the kitten. His face belonged in the dictionary under the entry for “blasé”.“I’m petting a cat.”  


“I can see that. What are you doing in our compartment? Aren’t you two a little early for your annual race to see who can get jinxed first?” she folded her arms across her chest and raised her chin. Sirius tried not to think about how the sunlight was filtering through the window and hitting her high cheekbones just right.  


“Nah, last year we waited too long and the trolley witch had already come by so we were in a sugar daze by the time we got to you.” James piped up from next to Lily. _Since when could she sit next to him?_ Aria had known for years about Lily Evans’ determination to quash her blossoming crush on James Potter, but she never would’ve imagined a world in which Potter would be able to sit six inches away from Lily without being on the receiving end of a nasty hex.  


“Aria packed us lunches because she says we can’t just eat sugar for lunch or we’ll be bouncing off the walls,” said Enzo with the kind of assertive but cool air that younger boys assume when they’re in close proximity to older boys. “She always packs one for her and Lily, and they usually have leftovers. You can have some if you want.”  


“What’d you make, Bellisario?” Sirius was interested. He was particularly taken with the image of her in an apron, bustling around a kitchen. He’d never imagined her with siblings; he certainly didn’t expect the Ice Princess of Hogwarts to pack lunches.  


Aria sighed. “Enzo, I don’t know if we’ll have enough-”  


“We’re Italian, you always overpack for lunch. I saw you pack extra _sfogliatella_ and everything,” chirped Ellie.  


Aria turned to her best friend, who had barely said a word since the boys had joined them in their compartment, looking for backup. Lily met her gaze, and gave a small shrug.  


“Five train rides, I’ve never known you not to pack too much,” she said in a small voice.  


“Fine,” sighed Aria. She fished out the containers and passed them to Enzo and Ellie first. “Here. It’s chicken piccata, caprese salad, and pastries.”  


“Thanks, Ari. She’s a good cook,” said Ellie. “She cooks all the time at home. We missed it when she went to school.”  


Sirius raised an eyebrow at Aria. She rolled her eyes at him in response. Siblings, cooking, packing lunch? Somehow he couldn’t quite reconcile the ideas in his mind of the girl who hexxed him into the hospital wing the third day of First Year with the girl who made delicious smelling Italian food for her and her friend every year on the train.  


“Is she now? Here, hold out your hands,” said Sirius, drawing his wand.  


“Black! What are you-” Aria had drawn her wand in a flash, drawing herself up to her full height of five feet, one inch. She was fully prepared to cause Black a world of pain for drawing his wand on her baby sister when she heard him mutter a simple hand washing spell.  


“Christ, Bellisario, we’ve been petting a cat. Do you really want your little sister to be eating fur with her pastry?”  


Aria felt...stupid. It was the only word to describe how she felt. Ellie blinked at her curiously, and Enzo snorted a laugh as he pulled out his pastry. “Yeah Ari, you’d think there was a fire the way you jumped up.”  


James and Sirius laughed a little at this. Enzo glowed with pride. Aria heard a giggle coming from beside her. When she whipped her head to her left, Lily’s face quickly turned from amused to slightly guilty. She turned back to the three across the compartment from her: Enzo and Ellie with Sirius in the middle. This was a battle she was not going to win; she could never say no to Enzo or Ellie, and they were right about her overpacking. Any hope of having them out of the compartment was gone when Lily, her bravest general and strategist, decided to lay down her weapons. She sighed again. “Wash your hands too, Vincenzo. You weren’t raised by heathens. And you eat everything else before you even think of taking a bite of your _sfogliatella_.”  


Aria busied herself passing out the rest of the food while trying to control a blush from rising to her face. _Since when does Black just perform hand-washing spells for First Years he’d just met? What was that all about?_ She couldn’t help but concoct a million scenarios where he’d try to gain Enzo and Ellie’s trust just to pull a fast one on them and make them the butt of one of his pranks. She had vowed to protect them, promised her mother when they were only two days old, so she’d be damned if she let Black go near them. She stabbed at her salad, listening to James and Lily begin a surprisingly civil conversation about James’ summer holiday to Prague while Enzo and Ellie launched into the twins’ list of favorite things that Aria made at home.  


“She makes the best lasagna. Every Italian says they do, but they’re wrong. Ari’s is the best.”  


“You guys are pretty connected to your Italian roots, huh?” said Sirius, glancing briefly at Aria. Her gaze was fixed on the salad, as if she had been wronged by a particular tomato.  


“Oh yeah, we speak it at home. Dad grew up there, so we live in Rome for part of the year.” Ellie cut the seasoning and cheese off of a piece of chicken and tossed it to Amorina. Aria almost couldn’t believe how much Ellie was talking in front of a relative stranger. She seemed comfortable.  


“Really? Bellisario, how come you never told me about your secret Italian double life?” teased Sirius. In truth, he couldn’t believe he didn’t know that about her. If he thought about it, it was crystal clear that she was Italian, but in the five years he’d known her, they had never discussed anything beyond Hogwarts. They hadn’t even really discussed things, per se. Almost all of his knowledge of Ariana Bellisario came either through observation, his research conducted with Remus that one pathetic weekend, and anything she let slip during their verbal sparring matches. Her hatred of bananas, for example, became known to him in First Year when she revealed she’d rather subsist solely on bananas and troll boogers for the rest of her life than touch him with a ten foot pole. He’d learned she always took her coffee black by watching the way she always refused milk and sugar when someone offered it at breakfast. Remus had discovered something about how her mother had caused quite a scandal by using her half-Veela powers to become a successful Muggle model, which was how they figured out that it wasn’t her charm, wit, or enigmatic nature that drew men to her - it was simply the Veela blood.  


Or at least that’s what Sirius managed to convince himself of.  


Aria rolled her eyes at him, finally looking up. Sirius’ stomach twisted in a way that he was quite certain had everything to do with the food and nothing to do with the chef. “What, so that fact that my last name is Bellisario didn’t give you any sort of clue about where my family was from? I never pegged you for a dimwit. My mistake.”  


“Hear that James? Bellisario is just now figuring out that I’m a dimwit,” drawled Black. Ellie giggled.  


“Aria, you’ve outdone yourself again. This is even better than the paninis you made last year,” said Lily, diving back into her meal. Aria gave her a small smile, still trying to piece together what exactly shifted to have caused Lily to develop the ability to tolerate James Potter.  


“Yeah, thanks, it’s really good.” Aria tried not to choke when Black thanked her. _Since when does he do_ that? She gave a terse nod. The others chimed in, agreeing. This was almost too much weirdness for her to take; the sheer amount of people in the compartment, the weird dynamic with Potter and Lily, Sirius and her little siblings getting along…?  


Batshit crazy.  


Hastily, she got to her feet. “We have rounds, Lil, we gotta go.”  


Lily looked reluctant to get up. Sirius noticed this; after years of helping James decipher what every glance, every borrowed quill, every “congratulations” after a Quidditch match meant, he’d become a bit of an expert on Lily Evans. He’d never seen her quite like this before. “OK, lemme finish my lunch and then we’ll go.”  


“We still have to change, Lil. Let’s go,” said Aria, silently pleading for her to understand and re-enlist and join the fight again. Lily swallowed, glanced at James, and then back at Aria.  


“Alright, we’ll head to one of the Prefect compartments and change.” Lily got up and grabbed a small bag.  


Aria nodded, thankful that whatever strange dynamic was going on with her and James, their friendship was far stronger than Lily’s rusty crush-quashing skills. She pulled her trunk out, and opened it. She rifled through her button ups to try to find a tie, knocking a few things out of her trunk in the process. With her skirt and shirt in one hand, she bent down to grab whatever it was that had fallen out, but found nothing there. She looked up, and was met with the sight of her lacy red thong dangling from Sirius Black’s fingers.  


Sirius’ heart had flown out of his throat when he saw the thong. His mind instantly began torturing him with all sorts of pictures that made his mouth dry. The sight of Ariana Bellisario, Hogwarts’ resident good girl, on her knees in front of him, a pretty blush beginning to spread across her face, certainly wasn’t helping matters. He willed himself to think of every unsexy thing he could; Remus’ howls during transformation? Nope. The shower drain after Snivellus had showered? Not doing it either. His mother screaming at him that he was a worthless piece of shit and that she wished he had died in her womb?  


Yeah, that’ll do it.  


Aria stood slowly. Every mortifying moment in her life was peanuts compared to this.  


“Gryffindor pride. I like it.” Sirius couldn’t resist poking fun at her, especially because the only other impulse he had was to ask if she’d model it for him, and he didn’t think her eleven-year-old siblings needed to hear such a thing.  


She snatched the scrap of fabric from his hands, briefly touching him in the process. She tried to focus solely on getting out as quickly as possible so she could stop thinking about how he had big, decidedly masculine hands. Aria found a tie, her robes, and her Prefect badge with some difficulty - apparently it was difficult to do things when there was no blood anywhere in your body but your face - and shoved the thong back in her trunk.  


“Lily and I will be patrolling for a few hours so we’ll be back to check on you,” she mumbled, barely looking the confused twins in the eyes.  


Sirius looked on, a mixture of amused and wildly aroused as she darted from the compartment. Lily followed, shooting James a smile that Sirius could’ve sworn was almost secretive. Before he could make some comment on how swimmingly Lily and James seemed to be getting along, James clapped his hands.  


“Who fancies a game of Exploding Snap?”

Aria had discovered long ago that while Lily wore her heart on her sleeve when it came to most things, James Potter was an exception to the rule. Residents of Hogwarts called Lily and Aria “Fire and Ice”. Lily was all fire, passion and warmth, blazing and destructive or crackling and bright. Aria, on the other hand, was ice; cool and sleek, frosty and stubborn or soothing and sweet. It was only with the Marauders that their personalities seemed to switch; around James, Lily was considerably more impassive, and when Sirius got involved, Aria’s temper and tongue had a hard time being controlled. Aria, who knew Lily better than just about anybody, had long since learned that Lily would talk about James when she was ready; pressing the subject often led to her temper making an appearance. She figured that she wouldn’t broach the subject of James in their compartment, nor the fact that he had taken the spot the Severus normally sat in.  


Once the door to the Prefect compartment was closed and the blinds were shut with a flick of Aria’s wand, Lily’s eyebrows went up.  


“I seem to distinctly remember a bet we made as Fourth Years saying that Sirius Black would never get his hands on your knickers.”  


_Two could play this game, Evans._  


“I seem to distinctly remember that you once said that James Potter’s rightful place in this world was as far away from you as possible.”  


“You owe me a Galleon.”  


“You owe me an explanation.”  


“There’s nothing to explain!” said Lily, turning away from Aria as she struggled with the zipper on her skirt. Aria reached over and wordlessly zipped her. “He wrote to me this summer.”  


“So? That’s pretty standard Potter behavior. Were there bonbons included or did he nix that idea after last year when they melted and you received a box of chocolate syrup in the post?” Aria began tying her tie, looking over at Lily who was huffily pulling on her socks.  


“No...but I wrote back.”  


Aria’s fingers froze.  


“It was only a few letters. I didn’t know I was going to do it but I was bored and Colin apparently moved so that he could start his own bakery in Kent -”  
“Colin is Bakery Boy, right? Panting and carbo-loading?” Aria finished her own tie and began to work on Lily’s. After all these years, Lily still tied horrible knots that looked sloppy and did not befit Lily Evans, brightest witch of her age.  


“Yes, so Colin moved -”  


“Good for him.”  


“Yes, yes good for Colin, but the point is I was bored and James wrote and you were gone all summer and Severus -”  


Aria finally understood. “Ah.”  


“Yeah.”  


The girls stood in silence for a moment.  


“You aren’t mad I didn’t tell you sooner? I didn’t know how to write it.”  


“Of course not Lil, not even a little bit.” Aria hugged her friend, her dearest friend, and hoped that the hug conveyed even a scrap of how much she loved her. She also wished that the hug could make her forget all the horrible things Snape had said and done, but she was only so powerful and it was only a hug.  


“Let’s patrol. I’m concerned to see what’s going to happen if Potter and Black spend time with Ellie and Enzo,” Aria said, linking her arms with Lily.  


“They’ve seen their sister’s knickers in Black’s hands today, so whatever those boys do won’t be half as scarring as that.”

After two hours of patrolling, the train was nearing Hogsmeade, and so an exhausted Lily and Aria came back to their compartment.  


They were not expecting what they saw.  


There were six First Years including Ellie and Enzo sprawled out in the compartment, and all four Marauders were right there with them. They seemed to be playing some kind of Exploding Snap tournament. James and Sirius appeared to be the referees; Ellie was facing off against a girl with long blonde hair on the floor, Remus and a small boy with red hair seemed to be in some sort of an impasse by the compartment’s door. On the seats to Aria’s left, Enzo seemed to be a move away from beating Peter, and to her right, a boy and a girl who looked exactly like the male and female version of each other sat perched. James and Sirius circulated, Sirius offering Enzo encouragement to “trounce Peter”, and James whispering to the boy with red hair on how exactly to beat Remus (“Prongs, you’re abusing your power as referee! Angus, be better than this.”) The compartment was full of noisy chatter and an alarming number of candy wrappers and the bangs of Exploding Snap - the kind of happy chaos that the Marauders were famous for.  


Lily and Aria exchanged bemused expressions as James bounded up to them. “It’s too late to join the tournament, but we’re almost to the semifinals. You can help us judge if you’d like.”  


Sirius glanced up, and saw Bellisario standing in the doorway, eyes wide as she took in the sight of the tournament. Her eyes seemed to be a warm honey across the hazy, smoke-filled compartment. Her eyes landed on Ellie, who was giggling at something her opponent had said, and her gaze seemed to thaw like March snows. A small smile began to play on her lips, and for what felt like the first time, Sirius was struck by how her lips - pink, full with a perfectly shaped Cupid’s bow - looked even more kissable and inviting when she smiled.  


A bang and a final whoop tore him out from his Bellisario-induced reverie (how many did that make for today? Sirius didn’t like that he couldn’t really keep count) and signified that Angus had beaten Remus.  


“Potter, Black, you aren’t planning on using these poor children for some ridiculous scheme, are you? I’m fairly certain England has child labor laws,” quipped Aria, her icy facade coming back so fast that Sirius wondered if he’d imagined the way her eyes softened only a moment ago. Perhaps seeing her knickers had something to do with his mind playing tricks on him.  


_No, whatever you do, don’t think about those again._  


“Nah, they volunteered so we don’t have to treat them well at all,” Peter looked up from the smoldering remains of his Exploding Snap defeat.  


Aria rolled her eyes and sat down next to Ellie, Lily joining her. “Alright, so how does this work exactly?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys! First chapter is finally up! The next few should be coming pretty soon - I have five, almost six finished ones, so keep an eye out!


	2. The Nights That I Call Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from Green River Ordinance's "Endlessly".  
> "She is the flames in the fire, she's raging,  
> I've been the spark in the war she's waging,  
> I, I love that girl,  
> She came along and she spoke so sweetly,  
> Changed everything, took my heart completely,  
> I, I love that girl  
> I, I love that girl  
> She is the days I can't get over,  
> She is _the nights that I call home_ ,  
> Endlessly,  
> For you I'll always wait,  
> Caught in the waves of hesitation,  
> Lost in the sea of my own doubt,  
> Endlessly,  
> For you I'll always wait"  
> -"Endlessly", Green River Ordinance

When the train began to reach the familiar countryside surrounding Hogsmeade, Lily and Aria insisted that the First Years change into their robes. After Angus, the redheaded boy, defeated Enzo in a neck-and-neck game, he was declared the Exploding Snap Champion of Hogwarts and Most Likely the Entire United Kingdom by James and Sirius, who insisted that he take a victory lap around the train’s corridor. As the First Years were ushered out the door to the compartment, Sirius caught another of Bellisario’s thaws. She was watching Enzo and the two boys, Angus and Adedayo laugh and jockey each other around to see who would get out of the compartment first, and her face went from impassive to the kind of wistful he’d seen Mrs. Potter watch James with.  


“I never would’ve guessed that you lot would make a decent babysitting crew,” teased Lily, who had seemed to develop her usual vivaciousness around James again.  


“What can I say,” said James, grinning and stretching his hands out, “I’m the domestic type.”  


Aria took notice of the way Lily rolled her eyes, but couldn’t bring herself to wipe the smile from her face.  


“Aria, your brother’s a right funny kid,” said Remus, who was sweeping ash into small piles so he could vacuum them up with his wand.  


“Yes, yes he is.” Her voice was rather stiff. She looked the distinct kind of uncomfortable where somebody has been unexpectedly good.  


“He’ll be a right hit with the ladies,” said James.  


Lily let out a small snort. “Enzo is far more interested in Quidditch than girls. Not every boy was drooling after girls as a First Year like you lot were.”  


“Ah, ah Evans, that’s where you’re wrong. We all were. Some of us were just particularly shoddy at hiding it.” Sirius cast a meaningful glance at James, who responded with a whack on the back of his head.  


“Thank you for watching them.”  


Aria almost regretted the words as soon as she saw the way the four boys and Lily turned to look at her. She tossed her head and reassumed her usual cold tone that had been missing from her blurted thanks. “Enzo and Ellie seemed to enjoy it.”  


“Like we said, they’re right funny. I bet your brother’s a Gryffindor.” Aria decided that a small smile would be appropriate to give to Remus at the moment. He had always been quiet and smart, and she didn’t mind when they were paired together for Prefect duties. A slight flush began creeping its way up his neck.  


Sirius watched Remus and inexplicably remembered an exchange they’d had years ago in the library, poring over _A History of the Notable Veela of Europe.  
_

__

_“So that’s how she does it,” whispered Remus.  
_

__

_“Does what?” Sirius was intrigued by a footnote that described one Veela who had used her powers to infiltrate and expose a Dutch brothel scheme.  
_

__

_“Aria...she walks in and you have to look at her. It’s not a choice. If she smiles, everybody has to stop and stare. D’you think that’s why she hardly ever smiles? Maybe she’s sick of the staring.”  
_

__

_Sirius looked up. “You’ve given this some thought.”  
_

__

_Remus shrugged, sheepish. “Haven’t you?”_   


He tried to shake a gnawing feeling in his stomach, deciding to chalk it up to the Pus flavored Bertie Bott’s Bean he’d eaten before.  


“Let’s grab our things, mates,” said Peter, clapping Remus on the back.  


The boys filed out, James giving one last longing glance Lily’s way before shutting the compartment door.  


“Well, the Marauders are many things, but good with kids wasn’t what I’d thought they’d be.” Lily’s tone was thoughtful. Aria grinned. For the brightest witch of her age, she was daft - or in denial. There was a distinct possibility it was a mixture of both. Aria decided from that moment on that she would try, for Lily and her feeling’s sake, to get along with the Marauders the best she could. “Come on, let’s usher some kids into boats. A sickle says the squid grabs two this year.”  


“You’re on.”

Aria had always loved the Sorting Ceremony. There was something electric about being back in school, surrounded by the air of new possibility and recalling the wonder she’d felt as an eleven-year-old when she’d first seen Hogwarts. When she chose Gryffindor five years ago, she had worried she’d made a horrible mistake, but as days, weeks, and years had gone by, she realized that Hogwarts had placed her exactly where she’d needed to be.  


She watched with pride as Ellie was Sorted into Ravenclaw, and Enzo joined her at the Gryffindor table. The Marauders, who sat a few seats down from where Aria and Lily were, whooped and cheered as all the First Years from the compartment were sorted; Angus to Ravenclaw; the blonde girl, Jenny became a Hufflepuff; and the siblings (who she’d learned were not biological twins, but were in fact going into the same year) Chinara and Adedayo became Gryffindors.  


Aria only listened to snatches of conversation as Mary MacDonald and Marlene McKinnon filled them in on their summers. She was too busy trying to figure out why seeing the Marauders in her compartment, with her siblings made her uncomfortable. It wasn’t that they had done anything wrong, per se...yet. Perhaps that was what was leaving her feeling unsettled. Or perhaps it was the fact that Lily wasn’t having her usual reactions to the Marauders’ presence. _Be supportive. She’ll figure it out eventually and when she’s ready, you’ll be there to talk._  


Sirius looked over and saw Bellisario tune back into a story that Mary had been telling them which, judging by her erratic hand motions, seemed to involve either a drowning victim or someone trying to fend off a swarm of angry bees. She smiled, and the conversation with Remus came back.  


_“Haven’t you?”_   


Sirius shook his head. Preposterous. He’d had a perfectly nice snog earlier in the day with a Seventh Year Hufflepuff, but here he was, caught in stupid Bellisario’s Veela spell for the umpteenth time of the day. _Snap out of it._  


Something told him that this was going to be a long year.

After Ellie had been ushered to Ravenclaw Tower with a hug and a kiss and promise that Aria would walk her from the Tower to breakfast tomorrow, Aria retired to Gryffindor Tower. Enzo only took minimal chiding to get to go up to bed. He seemed much more interested in exploring Gryffindor common room with his new friends and watching the Marauders laugh by the fireplace. She trudged up the stairs to her dormitory, flopping on the familiar red bedspread.  


“Is it just me, or are there more stairs this year,” complained Mary.  


“It always feels like that,” sighed Aria. “I swear, this school is designed to keep you in shape by having the most perplexing layout.”  


“Hey, Lil, would you mind if I borrow your owl? I just need to drop a note to my parents that I’m alright.” Marlene was rummaging through her trunk for a quill. Her tone darkened. “Did you hear about Yvonne’s brother?”  


Yvonne was their former roommate. She’d been taken out of school at the end of Fifth Year when her family abruptly left the country. All of their letters had come back, unopened. Optimists assumed that they were in hiding. Any semi-regular reader of _The Prophet_ would say that it was substantially more likely that Yvonne and her brother, who were Muggleborn, had met a similar ending to the countless faces that populated the obituary section.  


“They found his body, but still no word about Yvonne?” whispered Mary.  


Aria sat up. She should probably write to her father as well. “There’s still hope, Mary. No news has to mean good news.” She gave Mary a small smile that didn’t quite meet her eyes. “Mar, send your letter with mine. I need to tell my dad about Enzo and Ellie so he doesn’t come all the way back from Italy just to check on us.”  


_Dear Papa,_   


We have made it safely. Enzo is a Gryffindor and Ellie is a Ravenclaw - she becomes more and more like Mother each day. They both seem to have made friends quickly. I’ll write more tomorrow - I’m exhausted from the journey. I promise to continue watching out for them.  


_Ti amo,  
_

__

_Ariana_   


Aria rolled the note and attached it to the leg of her owl, Pulce. She fastened Marlene’s letter and opened the window, watching as Pulce became a black speck on the cloudless sky. She hated this; the fear that seemed to lurk in the corner during every conversation, the taste of distrust that seemed to flood every word. _Mother would’ve hated this the most._  


She sighed, and closed the window. She used to love sleeping with the window open, but these days it made her feel vulnerable, exposed. Reaching into her trunk, she pulled out her silk nightgown, and her hand brushed the red lace of her thong. She felt her cheeks begin to flush when she remembered Sirius Black had touched it only hours before. Even worse were the sensations she could still recall of his rough hands, a delicious contrast with the soft lace -  


Absolutely not.  


Ariana Bellisario was many things; calculated, loyal, stubborn, yes - but she was not a fool. There could be nothing more foolish than entertaining the notion of Sirius Black in any capacity even for a moment. Resolute and dressed for bed, she climbed into her bed, whispering a good night to her roommates. Folding her arms across her chest, she decided to designate her foolish thoughts as the byproducts of a tiring day, a confusing day. _Foolish, foolish, foolish._

_The click of the door had her sitting up in bed.  
_

__

_“Sirius? What on earth -”  
_

__

_She reached over and grabbed at a random dressing gown that she didn’t recognize, but donned anyway. Sirius Black, face lit by the moonlight filtering through the window, approached the foot of her bed.  
_

__

_“What is going on? What are you doing up here? How’d you even get up the stairs?” she hissed, moving closer.  
_

__

_His grey eyes searched her face for a moment, and his perfect lips opened as if to say something, but then they closed again.  
_

__

_Her eyes narrowed. “Whatever. I’m going back to bed.”  
_

__

_As she turned and crawled back up the top bed, she felt the cool air on the tops of her thighs and heard something of a strangled groan erupt from the back of Sirius’ throat. She looked down, and saw she was wearing the red thong. With a gasp, she flipped over and tried to pull her nightgown down further. Her face was likely becoming a shade of red that rivaled her underwear. She looked up at Sirius, expecting a snarky quip, but instead saw his grey eyes had darkened to a shade of black that made her shiver.  
_

__

_His eyes roved over her, drinking in her body, and then landed on her face.  
_

__

_“Fuck it.”  
_

__

_The words were growled, and the only things Aria could concentrate on before he was kneeling before her, wrapping his muscled arms around her tiny waist, and kissing her fiercely.  
_

__

_Aria couldn’t form a cohesive thought if her life depended on it - pleasure raced through her body and pooled at her core. She tangled her fingers in Sirius’ hair, pulling slightly on the ends as she returned the kiss. With a moan that rumbled through his chest, he began exploring her mouth with his tongue. One arm remained firmly wrapped around her waist and gently leaned her back into her mattress while the other traveled up the back of her left thigh until he had a large hand firmly on her ass.  
_

__

_More.  
_

__

_Without breaking the kiss, Aria swung a leg over his hips, turning them over so she was straddling his lap. The friction was delicious and perfect and not nearly enough. Sirius had one hand on her ass and another trailing up her torso to cup her breast. When the broad pad of his thumb flicked over her nipple, her hips instinctively rolled towards his, relishing in the sensations.  
_

__

_“Aria,” he gasped as he began pressing kisses down her neck. She continued to roll her hips, letting out a small moan when he began matching her undulations with thrusts of his own. He slipped the dressing gown off her shoulders, continuing to lick and kiss wherever he could. Her breath was coming out in little pants._ More more more.  


_She felt liquid heat building, waiting to unravel. She rocked her hips faster, harder, and he matched her thrust for thrust, roll for roll.  
_

__

_“Sirius.” His name fell from her lips, and he quickly returned to kissing her deeply.  
_

__

_“Oh God, Aria -”_   


“Oh God, Aria, we’re going to be late!”  


Ariana bolted up in bed. Lily had thrown her pillow at her. Confused, she looked over at the clock and realized three alarming things: she’d promised she’d meet Ellie and walk her to breakfast at eight, it was now seven forty-three, and she’d just woken up from a sex dream about Sirius Black.  


Dashing to her trunk, she grabbed the first set of clothes she saw and took a shower that was so fast it would make a sailor envious. Performing a simple drying spell on her hair, she reached for her clothes to get dressed, and was met with the sight of that damned red thong. Realizing she had no time, Aria resolved to suck it up and wear the cursed thing. _After today, I’m binning these,_ she vowed silently.  


“Come on Lil, I’ll tie your tie at breakfast, let’s go,” she said, buttoning the last button on her shirt and yanking on her robes.  


The girls dashed through the corridors, breath coming out in heaves by the time they reached Ravenclaw Tower. Ellie was waiting outside the eagle. Angus stood beside her.  


“It’s eight-oh-two,” she said, looking disapprovingly at the winded girls.  


“Sorry, _fiore,_ I woke up later than I meant to,” apologized Aria. “But we’re here now, so are you two ready for the finest breakfast you’ve ever had?”  


As Angus and Ellie chattered on about their roommates and what they thought of the castle so far, Aria couldn’t help but think about what the hell had happened to make her dream such a thing about such a person. Aria wasn’t a prude, but she certainly would never have thought that her subconscious would concoct a dream about Sirius Black of all people. _I was tired and I accidentally fell asleep thinking about the thong incident, that’s all._ The image of him sitting between Ellie and Enzo listening as they listed Aria’s greatest cooking achievements flitted through her mind; he looked interested and much...kinder. _Stop_.  


They’d reached the Great Hall, and Ellie and Angus waved goodbye as they took their seats at the Ravenclaw table. Lily led the way, as Aria was still too wrapped up in her thoughts to realize where it was exactly that they were going. Lily swung her legs over the bench and sat down. “Ari, will you please tie my tie for me now?”  


Aria jolted back to the present, and sat down. She looked up and into the same grey eyes that she had dreamed were darkened with desire. She fought the blush from reaching her cheeks. James was sitting next to Sirius, with Remus and Peter on the other side of Potter. Out of all the stupid places Lily Evans had to choose to sit today, it had to be right in front of Black and Potter. Numbly, she began tying Lily’s tie as McGonagall began passing out timetables.  


“Evans, can’t you tie a tie?”  


Aria’s fingers froze for the briefest of instants when she heard the voice, ragged from sleep and even deeper than usual. Sirius raised an eyebrow at the sight of Bellisario’s nimble fingers forming a clean, tidy knot. He took a lazy bite of eggs, enjoying the sight of an undone Ariana Bellisario - a button on her shirt was in the wrong hole, tie thrown haphazardly across her shoulders, blinking sleep from her big eyes. With the bright, clear sky reflected on the ceiling, her eyes looked greener than usual.  


“I can tie a tie, Black, but Ari has just always been better at it than I was. Besides, it’s become a bit of a tradition.”  


_Ari._ Sirius was fairly certain that he’d never called the girl sitting across from him anything other than Bellisario or an epithet that was a mix of insulting and flirtatious. _It suits her. Ari. Aria. Ariana._ He didn’t think he’d heard anybody call her Ariana other than the occasional teacher. “Cooking and tying ties. Are there any other 1950s housewife hidden talents lurking under the surface that I should know about? Child rearing, perhaps?”  


_He did not just say that to me. Not after last night. Not after what I dreamed._   


“Shove off, Black.” Her brain couldn’t come up with anything snappier and try to ignore the memories of the noises he made in the dream at the same time. She reached across the table for the pot of coffee, but Sirius was quicker. He snatched it up and held it above his head. “Give it here, Black.”  


“Not until you tie my tie for me,” he said, eyes glinting. “I want a pretty knot, like the one that Evans has.”  


“I can teach you a noose,” she said, voice sickly sweet. “Would that be helpful?”  


“Nah, I’ll stick with a simple knot though. Come on, it’ll take all of two seconds and then I swear you can drink all the black coffee that any human could ever dream of having.”  


Aria weighed her options. Being near Sirius was definitely not on her list of things she wanted to be doing right now, but drinking coffee _was_ a close second on that list to turning his hair a garish shade of orange. Lily and the other Marauders watched with a sort of keen interest; whenever Sirius and Aria faced off, things got pretty intriguing.  


“Ugh, fine, slide the coffee over and we have a deal,” she groaned. James and Lily smirked slightly. Sirius’ grin could be best described in two words: cheeky and triumphant. He slid the coffee halfway over, but kept one hand firmly on the handle. “Aren’t you going to let go and give it to me?”  


“And risk losing my insurance? Nah. I want a fancy tie knot for my first day as a NEWT student,” he said, tossing his hair. Aria rolled her eyes. She hated to admit it, but she most likely would’ve snatched the coffee away from him the first chance she got. She wasn’t almost put in Slytherin for nothing. _It’s nothing. Tie the tie, drink the coffee, plot his demise later once you’re fully caffeinated._  


He stood over the table, bent over so that she could reach the tie. She refused to look him in the eye, focusing solely on the silky fabric. Red. She’d had enough of red fabric for a while. She felt his gaze on her, intent on scanning her face. “Quit it.”  


“Quit what?”  


_The moan he let out, when she flipped them over._ The images and memories came despite her best efforts. “Whatever it is that you’re looking at it. Quit it.” Line up the lengths. Cross over.  


“I’m just trying to figure out how _The Donna Reed Show_ can stand to lose their star while you’re here.”  


She briefly wondered how a Pureblood like Black would know about something like _The Donna Reed Show_. _Grey eyes dark and face shining in the pale moonlight._ “Donna Reed was an influential figure in the development of female television executives.” Pull through. Loop around.  


“I wonder if she also needed a ton of coffee to be able to button her shirt correctly.” That famous eyebrow, raised so elegantly, made an appearance as Aria looked down and realized her uniform was in a complete state of disarray.  


_Whatever you do, don’t think of those hands slipping the dressing gown down your shoulders. Don’t think about his tongue tracing your neck._ Loop. Pull through. Cross over.  


“I wonder if you realize how easy it would be for me to throttle you in this very moment.”  


“Now, now Bellisario - check your tone. We mustn't fight like this in front of the children.”  


James and Peter laughed. Aria rolled her eyes. Pull through. “There. Now I’ll take this -” she snatched the coffee pot away “- and I’ll thank you to leave me to drink it in peace.”  


“Once you’ve gotten a few sips in, you might want to fix your uniform because - ah, Minnie darling! How was your holiday?”  


Aria whipped around. There, looking disapprovingly at her, was Professor McGonagall. “Miss Bellisario, I hate to agree with Mr. Black but in this case he’s right; it would behoove you to fix your uniform.”  


“Yes, Professor,” mumbled Aria, fingers already trying to redo her buttons. With a small ‘hmm’, McGonagall began passing out their schedules.  


“Professor, are we going to have a Prefect meeting soon? Headmaster Dumbledore didn’t mention anything about it at the feast,” asked Lily.  


“Yes, soon. Professor Dumbledore will notify you. In the meantime, will you patrol tonight? Miss Bellisario can patrol tomorrow - that is, if she’s done fixing her buttons by then.”  


The boys chortled and Aria tried not to sink into the floor. “Certainly, Professor.”  


“Excellent. I’ll see all of you in Transfiguration.” She began sweeping off, but then stopped. “Mr. Black, if you ever address me as ‘Minnie’ again, I will personally ensure that you clean every toilet in this school with a toothbrush.”  


Aria smiled into her cup of coffee. Maybe the day wouldn’t be so bad after all.

After only minimal bickering between Sirius and Aria during the rest of breakfast, the Gryffindors were packing up their things to head to their first class of the day, Potions. As Aria was closing her bag, Enzo and his two friends, Chinara and Adedayo approached her.  


“Ari, we have Astronomy theory first. What floor is that?”  


“Sixth. Here, I’ll walk you lot up there. Round up the rest of the First Years, will you?” Aria turned to Lily as Enzo called the rest of his classmates over. “Go on ahead, I’ll see you down there.”  


Lily nodded, and headed off with James. The sight was still so bizarre for Aria; Lily and James, polite and cordial. Other students had begun to notice it as well; James Potter’s undying love for Lily Evans was one of the worst kept secrets in all of Hogwarts, particularly after the incident at the lake at the end of last year. Whispers and stares followed them out of the Great Hall.  


“Alright, is that everyone? Take care and keep up, and pay attention. Let’s go.”  


Sirius watched as Bellisario led the First Years off. They looked at her with such reverence, such awe he almost wanted to laugh. She cracked a smile at something Enzo’s friend, Chinara said, and leaned over to pinch Enzo’s cheeks. He swatted her hand away, wrinkling his nose, and she laughed. Really laughed. It was something so rare that Sirius felt as though he’d invaded her privacy by watching. He cleared his throat, shut his bag, and rushed to catch up with his friends on the way to Potions.  


“Mind this particular suit of armor - it has a nasty habit of trying to trip people,” warned Aria.  


“Aria? Why’d you tie Sirius’ tie at breakfast?” asked Chinara, who Aria was beginning to like a lot due to her bluntness and good-natured humor. “Is he your boyfriend?”  


Aria was so stunned by the question that the suit of armor stuck out the hilt of its battle axe, causing Aria to stumble. Enzo raised his eyebrows. His older sister was nothing if not collected, but the question seemed to rattle her considerably.  


“No, not at all,” she answered shortly. “Professor Sinistra will be waiting for you all. Have a good first lesson, and remember to be on your best behavior to earn house points. We want a Gryffindor victory this year, yeah?”  


She bade the First Years farewell, and turned back from where she’d come to make her way to the dungeons. She kept reminding herself that nobody could know about her dream - unless one of the First Years had suddenly become a skilled Legilimens, there was no way Chinara could’ve known the implications of what she’d asked. _It was a simple question. I gave an honest answer. Tying somebody’s tie because they’re holding your breakfast hostage does in no way mean he’s anything remotely resembling a boyfriend._  


She had reached the dungeons and pulled the doors open. There were two minutes left until class began, but since it was the first class of the term, everybody had arrived early. She quickly scanned the room and saw that, much to her surprise, James and Lily were seated together. For as long as she could remember, she’d partnered with Lily or Yvonne for Potions. She tried not to feel the sting of hurt seeing her best friend choosing her new...whatever James Potter was to Lily over her, but she felt the prickings of embarrassment at being replaced. There were two seats left in the classroom; one was next to Severus Snape, and the other was next to Sirius Black.  


It was no contest in her mind - even the dream and Chinara’s question couldn’t be reason enough to associate with Severus Snape. Snape had hated her for as long as she could remember. The combination of having to “compete” for Lily’s attention and Aria’s Veela blood made her repugnant in the eyes of Snape. Aria had no patience for his bigotry, nor his manipulation of Lily. She’d watched him try to isolate Lily from her friends, from boys she’d found cute, even from her family for years. He had a way of playing on Lily’s tender heart to get what he wanted. His assumption that he was “owed” Lily’s love because he was “willing to overlook” her blood status was infuriating to Aria, and she was quite certain that there was no one person on this planet quite so odious as Snape.  


Holding her head high, she marched over to where Black was seated. He was having a conversation with James and Lily, who were seated in front of him.  


“-known we were doing joint custody over James I would’ve requested him for Charms and Potions. I won’t budge on Transfiguration, though; I need Prongs with me so he can help me.”  


“Ari! There you are,” Lily looked apologetic. Aria remembered her promise she’d made to herself to be supportive of whatever this was with James and Lily, and gave her a smile. “Did any of the First Years get stuck on a staircase?”  


“No, they all made it to Professor Sinistra in one piece. Potter, I have to agree about this whole joint custody business. Shall I have my lawyers draw up a contract and send it over?”  


“Can we go in together on the legal counsel? I think you and I are on the same side of things for once,” said Black, tipping back in his chair easily. He flashed her a grin that she’d seen dozens of witches melt for. She willed herself to remain solid; one sexy dream wouldn’t weaken her resolve.  


“Good morning, NEWT students!” Slughorn waddled over to the front of the room. He tapped his wand to the piece of parchment in front of him. “There’s the seating chart for the term, so I hope you are partnered with someone good! If there are any concerns, please come see me during office hours.” Aria couldn’t believe this, she’d be seated next to Sirius Black for the rest of the year? _Just my luck._ “Today, we will be brewing the Blood Replenishment Potion in pairs. Please open your textbooks to page 84…”  


Aria sighed. She flipped to the page and scanned the list of ingredients. “Will you light the fire while I gather the supplies?”  


“Look at us reversing the gender roles, me keeping the hearth warm while you go out and secure material possessions. How very progressive and un-Donna Reed-like of us.”  


“Fine. You gather the ingredients and I’ll light the fire, then,” she snapped, grabbing the flint from his hands.  


“Easy, princess,” he said with an arched eyebrow. “Aren’t the housewife types supposed to be demure?”  


He watched as she shoved the flint back over to his side of the table and stalked over to where the supplies were kept. He knew it was immature and that Mrs. Potter would chastise him for teasing her if she knew, but seeing Ariana Bellisario’s eyes flash at him, composure broken was distinctly satisfying.  


Aria returned with the supplies, and as she passed Lily and James’ station, she heard something she never would’ve imagined hearing from Lily Evans when she was with James Potter - a giggle. She nearly dropped the dittany that was clutched in her hand - Aria knew Lily better than anybody, and had suspected for years that she carried a secret torch for Potter, but what had happened this summer to have prompted such a dramatic change?  


“Bellisario!”  


She tore her gaze away from the back of Lily’s head and returned Black’s intense gaze. “Are you going to put down the supplies or will the potion brew itself in your arms?”  


She blinked. The whole day had felt quite peculiar and it wasn’t even 9:15 yet. “Er...yeah. Yeah. Will you crush the Murtlap tentacle? I’ll get started on mixing the dittany and daisy root essence.”  


He nodded, noticing the way her concentration had drifted over to his best friend and the girl James had loved from first sight. Sirius had known that James and Lily were corresponding - quite regularly - but only because midway through the summer Sirius had moved into a spare bedroom in the Potters’ manor. He was surprised at how slow James was taking things, but he was so happy to see his best mate, his brother finally getting somewhere with his longtime crush. He wondered what Bellisario was making of the whole situation, but thought better of asking her about it - the last thing he wanted was for her to think that he was mining her for information about Lily.  


“It’s strange, isn’t it?”  


He jumped when he heard her voice, low and a little wistful. He turned and looked at her, not wanting to say something and scare her off. She was staring intently at the dropper that held the dittany, but he could tell that her mind was elsewhere.  


“I suppose a part of me believed that she really did hate him.”  


Sirius couldn’t help cracking a smile. “Nah, she didn’t. Morons, really. The both of them. They just have to figure things out in their own time.”  


She looked up at him and Sirius felt a certain tightness in his chest. She had a sort of small, sad smile on her face. “Yes.”  


_At least he told you how he felt. Lily never officially told me._   


Sirius cleared his throat. “What’s the next step? I figure I should ask you, since you’ve likely the most experience following a recipe.”  


And just like that, the eye roll and frosty layer of indifference was back. He marveled at her ability to turn it on and off. “Start stirring.” He suppressed a grin. Whether she liked it or not, he’d seen the Ice Princess with her guard down.  


They worked in a disturbingly easy silence. Aria kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, but other than having to remind herself not to think about the dream (his arms around her and his lips on her neck were strictly off-limits lines of thinking) it was not nearly as unpleasant as she’d thought. Slughorn deemed their potion a solid E, and commended them on being the only group to get the viscosity just right - Severus Snape managed to have the _perfect_ shade of red, much to Aria’s chagrin.  


As she was packing up her things, Slughorn waddled over to her. “Miss Bellisario, I understand your twin siblings are here! What a shame I didn’t manage to have any of you in my house - but no matter! I trust they’ll accompany you to the first Slug Club meeting?”  


“I’ll do my best, sir.”  


“Excellent m’dear. Simply excellent! Tell me, how’s your grandmother? Is she well?”  


“Yes sir, quite.”  


“Excellent, excellent. And you, Mr. Black. How’s your mother doing? Do give my best to Walburga.”  


Sirius stiffened. His blood ran cold at the mention of his mother. “I wouldn’t know. Good day, Professor.” He snapped his bag shut and strode out of the room. Slughorn watched him go with a bemused sort of look.  


“He always was so odd, so unlike the rest of them. What a shame…”  


Aria gave a terse smile, and bade Slughorn goodbye. Slughorn had known her mother when she was a student, and had taught her grandmother when she was the first Veela admitted to Hogwarts. He’d always kept an eye out for particularly bright and talented family lines, and Aria’s family had been a special favorite of his. He’d attended her mother’s funeral and had delivered a toast in her honor. In her mother’s memory she attended the Slug Club’s meetings with Lily since they were First Years.  


Aria knew Black’s brother, Regulus, from the meetings. He seemed quiet, snobbish, and generally accepted as the slightly less attractive one of the Black brothers. Aria had never really spoken to him, keeping mostly to herself and Lily during the meetings, but she felt the pricklings of curiosity - why did he Black react to the mention of his mother like that? Come to think of it, why was Regulus in the Slug Club but not Black? It seemed the exact kind of ego boost Black would enjoy. She wondered -  


_No. No more brain power will be wasted trying to discern exactly how Sirius Black worked and what made him tick. By the end of the day, the dream, the curiosity, everything will be forgotten. As if it had never happened._   


“Ari? Ready for Transfiguration?”  


Lily was standing by her desk, holding her bag. Aria gave her a smile. “Yes. Remember the details of the shared custody arrangement.”  


“How could I forget?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figured I would just post this one while I have the guts to do it lol


	3. Pulling Me to You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "And I'm a nomad lost chasing your mirage  
> Through the wind and through the heat  
> Looking back to the young years it must've been late midnight  
> I saw the colors move me and you it was clearer than a lightning strike  
> Clearer than a lightning strike  
> Its like the currents  
> Out in the great deep blue  
> There's a force that is occurring  
> Its _pulling me to you_ "  
> -Currents, The National Parks

Sirius really wasn’t a bad student - honest. He was clever and had a knack for spellwork which meant that he aced his practicals. He hadn’t earned 8 OWLs by being an idiot. However, midway through the first week of term, he was quite certain that these next two NEWT years were going to kick his ass up and down the corridors until he begged for mercy. Teachers had piled on homework - essays, required reading, practical tests at the end of the week. He rubbed his temples as he looked down the long list of things he had to do - complete a revision of a potion recipe, an essay on Vanishing spells, mastery of non-verbal summoning spells, the first half of _Protection and Prudence: A Guide to Magical Safety_ , annotated diagrams of the mating process of all the plants in the Venomous Tentacula family, and an essay on the scholarly debate on a Kneazle’s life cycle (of which there were two camps: nine lives or one). Normally Sirius would’ve put this off, but Aurors needed scores of Es or higher on their NEWTs to even be considered. He sighed and pulled out _Protection and Prudence. Fuck being a Sixth Year._  


Aria climbed through the portrait hole, looking for Black. She was buried under mounds of homework, and if she didn’t do most of it tonight, she’d have to stay up extremely late after her rounds tomorrow. As Potions partners, they had to work together on revising the recipe to a potion to improve its effects using Esterfling’s Laws of Potioneering. It was almost as if Slughorn had been able to sense that Aria wanted as little to do with her partner as humanly possible, and was doing everything in his power to make them spend time together. _What did I ever do to that old sod?_  


“Black!”  


Sirius looked up from the same paragraph that he’d been reading for the past fifteen minutes and saw Bellisario standing there. Her hair, which had been swept into a ponytail this morning, had a few curls falling out, framing her face in a way he was quite certain shouldn’t be natural. “Bellisario, have you come to save me from my textbook induced misery?”  


_It really is unfair,_ thought Aria, _that somebody so gorgeous could be such a massive prat._ His tie was loosened and the top two buttons of his shirt were undone. His shirtsleeves were rolled up to his elbows, displaying an unfortunately attractive pair of forearms. His hair was still silky-looking, but had become tousled throughout the day, most likely from when he tipped his head back and laughed. “In a way, yes. I came up here to see if you could come work with me on the Potions assignment.”  


“Darling, if you’d wanted a clandestine snog in the library, that’s more Remus’ wheelhouse, not mine.”  


“So noted. Unfortunately, you’re my Potions partner, not Remus. Unless you’d like for me to do the project by myself and tell Slughorn, I’d suggest you accompany me to the library and then to the dungeons.”  


Sirius sighed, snapping his book shut. “Fine, you’re taking me away from the most fascinating reading of my life, but if you can live with it -”  


“Somehow I think I’ll manage. Let’s go.”  


She turned and strode through the portrait hole, leaving Sirius to jog after her.  


“Why do you walk so fast?”  


“Why do you walk so slow?”  


“I’ve never seen somebody so small cover that much distance in that little amount of time.”  


“And I’ve never seen somebody so arrogant and STD-riddled, so I guess there’s a lot we can teach each other.”  


“Are you concerned about STDs because you want a clandestine _dungeon_ snog? Bellisario, I’m sorry but the dungeons give me the willies. It’s quite a mood killer.”  


“You’re insufferable.”  


“No, I _am_ STD free though.”  


She rolled her eyes at him as she entered the library. “Good evening, Madam Pince.” The old woman looked up at her with the blankest of expressions. Sirius nearly gasped; he’d never seen Pince do anything but scowl at a student. Aria led him to the Potions section and immediately began looking for books on Esterfling’s Laws of Potioneering.  


“‘Good evening, Madam Pince,’” mimicked Sirius in her ear, making his voice high and breathy. Aria felt a slight shiver run through her body at the feeling of his warm breath on her ear. She continued to search through the tomes, occasionally opening one up to the index.  


“So, what exactly are we looking for?” said Sirius, leaning his forearm against the shelf to the left of Aria, watching her search. Her eyebrows were slightly tugged together, forming a cute wrinkle at the top of her nose. She was tiny compared to him, which was both cute and a little hot. She stood on her tiptoes to reach for a book, and Sirius felt his heart race a bit. _Fucking Veelas._  


She watched him out of the corner of her eye, casually leaning against the bookcase. He _was_ sexy. Infuriatingly sexy. She felt certain that he knew his impressive Quidditch-sculpted arms were on excellent display when he stood like that. Images from her dream battled for her concentration with her search for relevant books. “Anything that can help us with the Blood-Replenishing Draught and Esterfling’s Laws of Potioneering.”  


“So something like _Esterfling’s Laws and Their Applications in Healing Potions_ might be of some use?” Sirius plucked the book of the shelf above her head and held it out. “Amazing what you can discover when you’re at the right height for it.”  


She felt her cheeks burn a bit as Black had found the perfect book. “Fine, let’s go check these out and get started. I’ve got loads else to do.”  


Sirius gave a ridiculous bow and gestured for her to go in front of him. “After you, m’lady.” He was too deep in his bow to see her face, but he was quite certain she had rolled her eyes. He followed her to the counter, allowing himself to be entranced by the way her hips swayed with each step she took. He shook his head like a dog trying to rid its ears of water.  


“Did you find everything alright, Miss Bellisario?” Madam Pince’s voice was thin and inexplicably reminded Sirius of crumpled parchment.  


“Yes, thank you.”  


“We found some of the books were...a bit out of reach for Miss Bellisario. Might I suggest a few well-placed stepladders?” Sirius placed his book on the counter, giving both Aria and Madam Pince his most charming smile.  


Aria’s stomach rolled into a knot. _Damn him and his perfect smile. Damn him and his constant jokes. Damn him._ “Thank you very much, Madam Pince. Have a good evening.” She grabbed the heavy books in one arm and Sirius’s shirt sleeve in another and dragged him out of the library before he could ruin the carefully cultivated relationship she had with Madam Pince.  


Sirius watched in amusement as her small hand clutched the white fabric of his sleeve and she led him out of the library. “You know, I was kidding before about the clandestine snog, but if this is your way of asking…”  


“Not in the slightest.” She dropped her grip on his sleeve and Sirius fell into an easy step next to her. One of his long strides was worth two of her smaller ones. “I couldn’t risk you mucking anything up for me with Madam Pince.”  


“Why? Are you thinking of asking her to the Halloween Dance?”  


“Yes, I thought wrinkles would go well with my dress robes.”  


Sirius laughed. Aria looked over at him, slightly startled. Sirius laughed a lot, and everybody knew when he did, but she wasn’t sure if in the five years they’d been in school with each other that she had ever been the one to make him laugh. At least not on purpose. “You know, for somebody who’s trying to go out with a sixty-three year old woman, you’re pretty funny.” Her cheeks turned slightly pink at this, and she readjusted the four heavy books in her arms to give herself something to think about other than the compliment. Sirius noticed, and reached over to take the books from her. Aria recoiled slightly, and clutched the books to her chest.  


“What are you doing?”  


“Offering to hold the books. Aren’t you fifties housewife types supposed to be all about this sort of thing? You look like a Niffler hoarding its gold or something.”  


“Fine. Take two, then.” Sirius reached over and took them all. “I said take two!”  


He flashed her a grin. “I’ve never been particularly good at following the rules.”

When they reached the dungeons, Sirius instinctively leaned over and pulled the door open for her, which earned him a mumbled ‘thank you’. He grinned in spite of himself - who would’ve thought that all the years Walburga Black spent trying to mold him into the perfect gentleman might’ve actually paid off?  


“Alright, I think our best bet is going to be finding something to amplify the dittany but we have to take care that it doesn’t negate the effects of the daisyroot essence.” Sirius placed the books on the table and she immediately began poring over the one he’d selected in the library.  


“What about some crushed Hippogriff talon?”  


She absent-mindedly shook her head. “That would negate the binding effects of the daisyroot.”  


“What if we added in a crushed Hippogriff talon as we slowly added the dittany? We could do it in increments and just leave out the daisyroot altogether.”  


Aria’s head shot up. “Would you hand me my quill please?”  


Sirius complied. She instantly began scribbling something on her parchment. Sirius stifled a sigh. “Or we could do something else if -”  


“Brilliant! It works!” Sirius felt the glowings of pride in his chest. “Look, it complies with all the laws and Hippogriff talon bolsters healing and strength. We need something for the…” she trailed off and she grabbed another book and began flicking through it. “What about salamander blood? It’s used in Strengthening Solution as a binding agent.”  


“I...yeah, salamander blood is always a yes from me.”  


Aria Bellisario turned to him and smiled and every breath Sirius had ever taken was knocked out of him. Her eyes were bright in the candlelit dungeon and she had a small dimple in her cheeks that he’d never noticed before. He was quite sure that even if she weren’t part Veela, she’d still be the most radiant person on the planet. He watched her rush to the ingredients cabinet with soft eyes, admiring the way she seemed to glide across the dungeon floor. When he saw her about to turn around, he busied himself with starting a fire.  


They worked well together. Aria couldn’t help but notice that they seemed to be able to anticipate what the other was going to do next and worked seamlessly. The silence would occasionally be broken by one of them asking the other to pass something, or to consult the book to double check measurements, but other than that was almost...nice. She decided Black was a lot more tolerable when he wasn’t prattling on just to admire the sound of his own voice.  


“So why’d you pick this one? There were plenty of potions that were easier than this one on the list that Slughorn gave us.”  


She shrugged. “I figure if I want a good recommendation from Slughorn, I’d better not shy away from a challenge in his class.”  


“Recommendation for what?”  


“Healer school. Would you please pass me the scales?”  


“Healer school? Why?” he passed her the scales.  


She shrugged again. “I’ve always wanted to be a Healer.”  


“No way. People don’t come straight out of the womb wanting to be a Healer. They usually want to be a singer, or an Auror, or Minister or something like that when they’re small.”  


“Nope. I’ve wanted to be a Healer ever since I can remember.” Aria began adding tiny bits of Hippogriff talon into the potion while Sirius stirred. “What did you want to be?”  


“Me? Devastatingly handsome. My childhood dreams came true.”  


Aria snorted. “Shame it’s all you’ll amount to.”  


“You think I’m handsome, Bellisario?” he said with a wide grin. She instantly steeled up again, all trace of her previous warmth gone.  


“Now what would make you say that other than pure wishful thinking?” Her tone was lofty and stirred something up inside Sirius that he couldn’t place. He realized he vastly preferred her when she was something; annoyed, warm, confused, _anything._ He’d take anything over when she was standoffish.  


“It all makes sense now,” he mused. When she didn’t respond, he continued. “The Slug Club, the top marks, the ass kissing...it’s all so that you can get where you want to be.” Still no response. “Tell me, what does Madam Pince have to do with Healer school? Does she have some ‘in’ that you just _have_ to have?”  


“There,” she snapped, scraping the last of the Hippogriff talon into the cauldron. “Now, if you’re quite finished spewing nonsense that you know nothing about, we should clean up.” She ladled some of their potion into a vial and wordlessly summoned a cork from the end of the table. The fact that she had already mastered non-verbal summoning spells pushed Sirius over the edge.  


“‘Nonsense that you know nothing about?’ Please, princess, as if I can’t read you like a fucking book. You’re a kiss-ass.” He returned the ingredients that they hadn’t used to the cupboard, letting the door slam a bit. He strode back over to the worktable, where she was stonily packing up her things. “Does Slughorn know the real reason why the Icy Princess gets on his knees for him, or is he in the dark?”  


“You don’t know me at all! You haven’t the slightest clue who I am!” she said, her voice raising, eyes flashing, taking a step towards him so she could jab a finger into his chest. He looked down at her in a mix of irritation and amusement. _How could somebody so tiny be so fucking infuriating?_ He was now more sure than ever that she was the most maddening person he’d ever met.  


“Is that so? I bet everything that I know about you would be news to most people.”  


“Shut up, Black,” she spat out, brushing past him as she began storming out.  


Before Sirius could fully comprehend what it was that he was doing, his left hand was closing around her bicep, and he was turning around and tugging her close. She was pulled flush against him, with only his left arm separating their chests. His minty breath washed over her face as she tilted her face up so she could look him in the eyes. Slate grey met hazel and both of them caught their breaths. All rational thought left Aria’s body, and she remembered her dream. His eyes were darkened now like they were then. Sirius watched as her face went from anger to something akin to...desire? His eyes flickered down to her lips for a fraction of a second, revelling in the way they were parted as small pants came out. It was at this moment that Sirius Black realized how desperately he wanted to kiss Ariana Bellisario.  


“Make me.”  


The words were growled and shot straight to Aria’s stomach, making her feel as though the floor opened up beneath her. It was at this moment that Aria realized that she was standing there, watching shadows flit across Sirius Black’s handsome face in the middle of Dungeon Three, waiting, hoping that he’d kiss her. The next few seconds felt like hours. He smelled incredible - spicy and musky and so _masculine_ \- it made her knees want to buckle. Her eyelids fluttered slightly closed, and she felt his grip on her bicep tighten slightly. _Do it do it do it._ Her body seemed to know what it wanted before her mind could come up with a coherent enough reason to stop it, and her right hand found its way to rest on his bicep, savoring the way the muscles strained against his shirtsleeve. Sirius stifled a groan at the feeling of her hand touching him, watching as she tilted her face up closer to his.  


Sirius Black had never imagined that he’d be standing in the middle of a candlelit dungeon, legitimately debating whether he should kiss the most stunning woman he’d ever met. His right hand moved to cup her elbow and gently pull her up so she was on her tiptoes. She was tiny and perfect and in his arms and it took every ounce of self-control Sirius possessed not to claim her lips right then and there. He inhaled a shaky breath, relishing the way she smelled like cinnamon and vanilla and strawberries all at once. His mind raced and seized on little details: her eyes had gold flecks in them, she had a loose curl tucked behind her ear, her eyelashes were long and thick and dark. He wanted to give her one last out in case she didn’t want this a fraction of how badly he did. In a surprising juxtaposition to the heated argument they’d been having only moments before this, his thumbs gently rubbed the inside of her elbow and her upper arm. He was turned on and this was stupid and she was standing there close enough to share breaths and _he wanted her._  


“Fuck it,” he groaned and leaned down, preparing to capture her lips with his. His mind went blank and her heart legitimately stopped for a moment as he repeated the words from the dream she’d had and then -  


The dungeon door opened with a bang and it felt like Aria had woken up. She jolted away from Black, trying to put as much distance between them as possible.  
Sirius felt as though he’d been doused with a bucket of ice water, and he felt her slip away from him. His right hand, which only seconds ago held her delicate arm, remained outstretched as if it was ready to grab her and pull her to him so he could finish what he’d started, interruption be damned. He looked towards the door and was greeted with a rather shocked looking Horace Slughorn.  


“Oh dear...I seem to have interrupted something.”  


Sirius had never been particularly fond of the Slytherin Head, but this moment cemented his loathing for him. He had never wished for somebody to simply vanish so badly in his life.  


Aria cleared her throat, still a little breathless. “No, not at all sir. Good night, Professor.” she bolted out of the dungeon without sparing a single glance towards Black, past the professor (who was beginning to look slightly amused) and towards Gryffindor Tower.  


Sirius remained rooted to the spot. _What the fuck just happened? How was I ready to kiss the most attractive girl in school one moment and now I’m stuck in a dungeon alone with Slughorn? You need to go after her, dumbass._  


He grabbed his bag from the back of the chair, stuffing the parchment and vial into it as Slughorn chuckled. “Ah, young love. Powerful stuff, it is.”  


_Shut the fuck up, old man._  


Deciding that no response was a far better option than trying to explain to a teacher that he was about to have a passionate, hate-fueled snog with a witch beyond most men’s wildest dreams before they’d been interrupted, he gave a terse nod to Slughorn as he neared the door, but Slughorn stopped him. “Aren’t you forgetting something?” he said, gesturing to the worktable where the four library books sat, completely abandoned.  


_Fuck you, you swotty old asshole._ He rushed over and collected the books. Sirius couldn’t imagine Bellisario’s wrath if he had tried to kiss her and wrecked her relationship with Pince all in one night. As he situated them in his arms, and rushed to the door, Slughorn stopped him again.  


“Mr. Black?” Sirius turned around, considering throttling the teacher at this point. “She’s one worth going after.” He threw in a jovial wink before closing the door to the dungeon and disappearing behind it.  


Deciding he wasn’t going to dwell on the ramblings of a deranged old man, Sirius quickly scanned the empty corridor and saw no sign of Bellisario. There was a secret shortcut to Gryffindor Tower that, if he took, would probably get him there before she did so he could talk to her - or kiss her breathless. Whichever worked. He started to run towards the shortcut before remembering that he had to drop off the library books. With a groan, he realized he simply had to return these before seeing her, so he turned and headed the opposite way. _Fuck fuck fuck._ His mind was reeling and barely functioning at the same time. The mere hint of Ariana Bellisario was enough to make his system short-circuit. If this was him with only a few touches and the vaguest promise of a kiss, he almost didn’t want to know what would happen if he had a real hit of her.  


He reached the library and dumped the books in the bin where returns went and dashed out, ignoring Madam Pince’s shrieks telling him that running in the library was strictly forbidden. He took the stairs three at a time, praying that she wouldn’t have gotten there before him. When he finally reached the portrait hole, the Fat Lady nearly spat out her wine. “Sirius, darling, what’s wrong?”  


Ignoring her, he gave the password. “Spattergroit.”  


She swung open and he clambered through the portrait hole, out of breath and desperate. The Gryffindors that were seated in the Common Room all looked up to see a panting, dishevelled Sirius Black. Sirius scanned the crowd, hoping to see her, but she didn’t seem to be there. He strode over to where the Marauders were seated around the fire, laughing at something that Remus had said. “Has Bellisario come by here?”  


“Hey mate, what’s wrong? Did you run here?”  


“Prongs, where’s Bellisario? Has she come up yet?”  


James frowned slightly. “She came in and basically brushed off Lily when she tried to talk to her. I think she went upstairs. Pads, what’s wrong?”  


_If she’s gone upstairs for the night, then I can’t talk to her. I’ll have to wait until tomorrow._ “Nothing. Left the vial of our potions project and figured she’d want it.” He hated telling a lie to his best mates, especially James, but he didn’t want to tell anybody about what had happened - or almost happened - yet. He flopped down on the couch next to Peter. Remus and Peter seemed to accept this answer, but James eyed him suspiciously. Sirius was a brother more than anything else; James knew him better than anybody, sometimes including Sirius himself. Where Ariana Bellisario was concerned, he’d long suspected that Sirius nursed some sort of attraction to her, but Sirius was never particularly good at his feelings. He figured Sirius would talk to him about it if he needed to, but until then he wouldn’t push the subject.  


“So, Pads, have you signed up for Quidditch tryouts yet?” teased James. Sirius had been on the team as a Beater since Fourth Year and served as an alternate in his Second and Third Years, and so was practically guaranteed a spot on the team. Sirius decided that dwelling on what had happened in the dungeon would only make it worse, and so forced a chuckle.  


“Nah, I figured this year I’d dedicate my time to the Gobstones club instead.”  


“Go sign up, I can’t make it look like I’m playing any kind of favorites.”  


“Even though you definitely will be?” teased Remus, looking up from his Defense reading.  


“Yeah, I’m only gonna let people who are significantly worse than Sirius on the team. I never said who I’d play favorites _for._ ”  


Giving James a playful flick to the back of the head, Sirius stood and made his way over to the Quidditch sign-up sheet on the Gryffindor notice board. He saw Enzo finish writing his name. “Trying out?”  


Enzo turned around. “Yeah. Chaser.”  


Sirius nodded and Enzo handed him the quill. “Thanks. Have you played much?”  


“My dad and I play a bit, yeah. We have this vineyard behind our house in Tuscany that we fly in.”  


Sirius almost asked him whether his sisters joined in, but stopped himself. After everything that happened tonight with him and Bellisario, he didn’t want to pry into her life via her baby brother. “Well, good luck. If you fly half as well as you play Exploding Snap, you’ll do great.”  


“Thanks,” Enzo said with a grin. “I’m actually pretty nervous. I love Quidditch, but I haven’t played on a real team since I was eight in Peewee Quidditch.”  


Sirius laughed. “I did that for a while. Got kicked off the team for too many fouls.” Enzo laughed, and Sirius was struck by how much he reminded him of James as a First Year. “Listen, if you want some practice, you can come with me on Friday to the Pitch and toss a few Quaffles around. I’ve only ever played Beater, but James makes me play Keeper for him when he practices so I’m decent.”  


Enzo’s eyes widened. “Really?”  


Sirius shrugged. “Yeah, sure. After dinner?”  


“Deal! Thanks, Sirius!” he grinned from ear to ear and ran off to his friend, Dayo and began chattering excitedly. Sirius watched him go with a small smile and shook his head. _Good kid._

That night, as Sirius tried to fall asleep, his mind tormented him with the feeling of Bellisario, flush against him as her breath escaped her in little puffs. He remembered the way her long eyelashes had practically settled on her cheeks as she had closed her eyes. He felt himself stirring in his pajama bottoms. _Did I really have her right there? Was Ariana Bellisario really in my arms only a little while ago? Why didn’t I just kiss the hell out of her sooner?_  


“Fuck,” he groaned, grabbing his wand and whispering a Silencing Charm. The curtains of his four poster bed were closed, and so he began palming himself through his sleep bottoms, remembering the way her body had felt against his.  


He imagined what could’ve happened if Slughorn had never interrupted; he’d claim her lips, kissing her thoroughly, properly - the way a woman like her deserved to be kissed. He’d hoist her up until those shapely legs were wrapped around his waist and his hands were firmly gripping her perfect ass. He imagined the thong, red and lacy and clinging to every delicious curve, would be under her school skirt, and as he laid her down on the table, still kissing her, he’d begin trailing a hand up her thigh. Sirius wondered if the skin on her thighs would be silky smooth like the rest of her. He pulled out his cock and began stroking himself in earnest, wishing she were here to make him finish.  


He imagined peeling off layers of her uniform until she was clad only in her thong and her knee socks, looking the picture of debauched innocence. He imagined her whispering “I want you”, her sweet voice ringing in his ears. Sirius groaned and picked up the pace, twisting his wrist.  


He pictured how it would feel to fuck her, being inside the school’s princess. He remembered her little pants from tonight, and wondered if she would match each sweet exhale to each powerful thrust. He pictured kissing her delicate neck, marking her up, ruining her for anyone else, and before he knew it, he was finishing with a low moan, spilling all over his bare stomach. He laid there for a moment, catching his breath and trying to feel satisfied, but he couldn’t. With a sigh, he siphoned off the cum and lifted the Silencing Charm.  


_Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck._  


With a groan, he rolled over, and after some time, fell into an uneasy sleep that was haunted by a pair of hazel eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey yall! college is crazy lol but i hope yall enjoy this one! hopefully i'll update this weekend too. lmk what yall think! how are we feeling about sirius and aria rn? i think my favorite stuff to write is def their banter. more to come soon:)


	4. The Moment Is Fleeting, I Can't Slow It Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Inches between us, counting them down  
> Midnight's emotion, driving around  
> I look over at you and you look at me too  
> If I just lean in and get out of my head, don't know what you would do  
> You're so lovely  
> You look so lovely  
> You're so lovely  
> I wish you'd love me  
> Mountains between us, fighting them now  
> The moment is fleeting, I can't slow it down"  
> -Lovely, Fly by Midnight, Betty Who

Ariana Bellisario was sure she’d never been so furious, although she didn’t know why the ire was directed towards. She paced the empty dorm room, gnawing on her bottom lip. It could’ve been towards Slughorn, Black, herself, her parents for ever giving her life in the first place...possibly a mix. She was also extremely frustrated. She couldn’t believe that _one_ dream had her becoming putty in Sirius Black’s hands like half of the female population at this school. And although she could assign a substantial amount of blame to her subconscious for planting such an idea in her head, she only had herself to blame for letting her body run with it.

 _It was the dream,_ she decided. _If I wait this out, it’ll pass. It’s just a stupid intrusive thought that if I ignore and don’t fan the flames, it’ll die out. I just need to ignore Black until this weird attraction goes away._

She sighed when she remembered that she had the Kneazle essay due tomorrow morning. She looked over at her four poster bed, warm and cozy and inviting and sighed again. _I’ll wake up tomorrow morning and finish it before breakfast,_ she decided.

Aria changed into her comfiest pajamas and crawled into bed, setting her Self-Waking Charm for five the next morning. The second she was in bed, she remembered being pulled taut against Black’s sexy chest. _Did Quidditch really do that for him? How can somebody’s chest be so broad and muscular? The calluses that she’d felt when he’d gripped her arm, were those from Quidditch too? Would his lips have been as soft as they -_

 _No. Absolutely not. That is the definition of “fanning the flame”, idiot._ She felt a tingling between her thighs, and her fingers began to move to take care of it, but she thought better of it. _That would_ definitely _constitute “fanning the flame.”_

With a huff, she rolled over, trying her very hardest not to think about a boy across the Tower from her, who, at that very moment, was trying his hardest not to think about her.

When Aria awoke the next morning, she’d never felt so groggy. She’d had a hard night of willing her subconscious to think of anything but Sirius Black. She dragged herself to her bag, and settled on the windowsill to write her essay.

The sun rose over the Hogwarts grounds, rising over the Forbidden Forest and making the lake shimmer like the most spectacular jewel. She allowed herself a few moments of basking in the early morning sunlight, letting it paint her skin golds and oranges, relishing the gentle warmth it brought. She forgot everything; pesky gorgeous boys, NEWT classes, Prefect duties, her father, the war…

She heard her dormmates begin to stir and realized she’d better finish this essay.

As the girls awoke, got ready, and trickled out for breakfast, Aria finished her essay. When she looked up again, she realized that she had five minutes until breakfast was over. “Damn it!” she cursed, throwing her essay in her bag and racing to get dressed. As she dashed out the door, hopping to get her shoes on, she cursed Sirius Black for making her miss breakfast by extension of his antics the night before.

By the time she had reached the Great Hall, the tables were empty and everyone was headed to class. Lily was waiting for her by the front door of the Entrance Hall, holding a scone.

“Hey you, I got you a scone,” she said with a grin. “It isn’t like you to put off homework like that.”

 _I’ve been doing lots of things that seem rather unlike me lately._ “Bless you, my dear friend, my savior, my life, my love.”

“Watch it, you’re starting to sound like James,” she said, linking her arms with Aria’s as they made their way through the dewy grass. Aria laughed and took a bite of her scone.

“If I were doing a James impression, I would’ve waxed poetic about your boobs or something.”

This sent them into peals of laughter as they neared the stables. Sirius looked up when he heard the laughter and felt his stomach flip at the sight of her, laughing and taking bites of a scone. She wasn’t at breakfast this morning, which he’d noticed because he was debating trying to clear the air first thing, but eventually decided against having that sort of discussion in the middle of the Great Hall - not that it mattered, because she never showed. He still hadn’t quite decided on what to say to her. _I’m sorry?_ He wasn’t. Not really, anyway. _I wanked to the mere memory of us_ almost _kissing last night?_ That would get him castrated, for sure. _Wanna forget that the thing that didn’t happen but almost happened actually almost happened?_

He was brought out of his thoughts by Professor Kettleburn calling the class to attention. He could see her standing out of the corner of his eye, next to Evans.

“Class! I have an exciting challenge for my NEWT students - gather round now. You all have learned about the life cycles of Kneazles in detail by now and unfortunately, my friend Newt’s Kneazle died, leaving behind fifteen Kneazle cubs. Now, as you all know, although Kneazles are highly intelligent, they need parental figures in order to thrive. You each will be paired up and assigned a Kneazle. It is your responsibility to care for it, nurture it, and ensure it is properly equipped for life. Remember, Kneazles bond intensely with their parents, so if the cub spends a disproportionate amount of time with one ‘parent’ and not the other, I will know, and points will be deducted. For the best results, spend time with the cub with your partner. You will be in charge of feeding it, monitoring its growth and helping it learn to hunt, and, most importantly, detect truths from lies.”

“This is so much better than any other practical we’ve had in this class - remember the Flobberworm mating?” Aria whispered to Lily, who made a face.

“Alright, I’ve assigned partners alphabetically, so when I call your names, come up and get your cubs.

“Abbott, Aniston.

“Bellisario, Black.”

Sirius’ head shot up. He looked over at her, and found she looked rather pale. He forced himself up to the front to grab the tiny cub from Kettleburn’s hands, and took it over to her. Her face was impassive, perfectly stoic. He cleared his throat.

“I returned the library books.”

“Thank you.” In all honesty, she’d forgotten about them completely in her haze last night. She couldn’t believe that she had forgotten and possibly jeopardized her quasi-friendship with Madam Pince because Sirius Black _almost_ kissed her.

“So...should we name it?”

Her eyes met his briefly, and she instantly refocused on the cub in his arms. “I don’t know...is it male or female?”

“Uh…” he picked the cub up by the scruff of its neck and looked. “Female.”

Aria rolled her eyes. “Lovely.”

“How else was I supposed to do it?”

She held out her hands and he passed her the cub. She fit in Sirius’ palm, but it took both hands for Aria to hold her. “We have to feed her every three hours, so we should switch off who has her at night.”

He nodded. “Okay, I’ll take her tonight. What about Minerva?”

“What?”

“Minerva. Like McGonagall. Y’know, she’s a cat, a Kneazle’s pretty close to a cat…”

“I’m not naming her after our Transfiguration professor.”

“She’s also a Greek goddess.”

She didn’t ask him how he knew about Greek mythology, but the question entered her mind. “Actually, she was Roman.”

“Fine. Sirius II.”

“Suddenly I’ve changed my mind about Minerva.”

He grinned at her and scratched between Minerva’s ears. She purred, and Aria was reminded of him and Ellie’s cat on the Hogwarts Express. That felt like ages ago.

“Alright, let’s weigh and measure you. Will you grab the scales, please?”

 _It wasn’t all that bad,_ thought Sirius. Considering they had almost made out in the bowels of the school and been caught by a Professor, it could have been much more awkward. He fetched the scale and the rest of the equipment from Kettleburn, and turned around to head back, but he stopped short.

She stood there, cooing over Minerva, scratching her pink belly, with a smile that Sirius was quite sure belonged in a museum. She began rocking the cub, swaying back and forth gently. He approached quietly, and heard what she was saying.

_“Guardati, mia dolce ragazza!”_

_Fuck._ Even talking sweetly to a Kneazle cub sounded hot as hell coming from her. _How did she do that?_ “Bellisario, we can’t have our baby Minerva grow up thinking Italian is her mother tongue. She’s got to at least learn ‘bloody’ and ‘wanker’ and stuff before you go teaching her that nonsense.”

“Fine. Minerva, Black is a bloody wanker. Happy? She’ll be able to use it in a sentence and everything.”

“Very,” he said, grinning. “Alright, Minnie dear, let’s see how big you are...”

Class ended, and Aria packed up her things, chatting with Lily about their Kneazle cubs. Although she wouldn’t be able to avoid Black much during this project, at least it wasn’t too horribly awkward. She’d just have to make sure she didn’t do anything to encourage the line of thinking that got her into last night’s predicaments in the first place.

“Bellisario! Hey, wait up.”

She turned and saw Black jogging to catch up, arms laden with supplies for Minerva. She turned to Lily, who raised her eyebrows. “Probably project stuff. Go, I’ll sit with you at lunch.”

Lily nodded, and continued on, only slightly suspicious. Sirius caught up to her, and noticed the way her arms were crossed and face stoic. The wind rippled through her hair, making it float behind her, almost as if she was underwater. For some reason, Hogwarts’ biggest playboy was at a loss for words. “I uh…” she raised a perfect eyebrow at him, snobby and breath-taking all in one. “I hope that -”

“Nothing happened. There’s nothing to talk about,” she said shortly, turning on her heel and heading towards the Entrance Hall. Sirius didn’t know what response he was hoping for, but it wasn’t that. He jogged so he was ahead of her, blocking her path.

“So we’re alright?”

She rolled her eyes. Today they were closer to brown than green. “Dandy.”

“Okay. I’ll put her stuff in my dorm and just give it to you when it’s your turn to take her.” She nodded. _So much for things not being too awkward,_ he thought. “Okay. Cool.”

He jogged the rest of the way to Gryffindor Tower, and when he made it to his dorm, he sat on the bed, his head in his hands. _This is only the first week of the term...what have I gotten myself into?_

Thursday slogged into Friday in a haze of homework and classes. Minerva was turning out to be a very cute but very time-consuming project. It was Aria’s turn to care for her, and so a rather sleepy Sirius Black handed her over before breakfast. “She decided that my arms made ideal chew toys in the middle of the night.” Aria couldn’t help it; she laughed. 

“What a good girl, such a smart one you are,” she cooed, giving the cub a kiss on the head. Sirius couldn’t help but smile. He hoped that things wouldn’t be weird during Potions.

Maybe it was the lack of Minerva to act as a buffer, or Slughorn constantly winking at the two of them, or some combination, but it was the most uncomfortable class period he’d spent since James stuck a packet of Fizzing Whizzbees down the back of his pants during Charms in Fourth Year. The tension between them was palpable - when his arm brushed hers, she nearly jumped out of her skin, and he tried to ignore how pleasurable it felt to be touching her - in any capacity. The fact that they were about three feet away from where they nearly kissed only served to make matters worse, and both relived the memory over and over again. Sirius couldn’t tell if he should grab her and kiss her, yell at her, or wait for her to do something. 

When the bell rang and class ended, she couldn’t seem to pack up fast enough. As she turned to go, she felt a hand on her bicep, and she was instantly reminded of that night. She turned to see Black looking just as surprised as she felt. His hands were large and easily wrapped around one of her small arms. “Bellisario, I…” he trailed off, unsure of why he stopped her. Her eyebrows knit together slightly, and the cute little crease he’d noticed in the library on Wednesday appeared. “You have Minnie’s bottle, right? I remembered to give that to you?”

She felt the strange plummet of disappointment in her stomach. “Yeah. You did.”

“Good.”

She gave a small nod, and gently turned away, meeting up with Lily and then exiting the dungeon. He watched her go, confused and annoyed with himself. _Fifth day of classes and you’ve already complicated things by thinking with your cock._

Slughorn walked by, chortling. “Ah, to be young again.”

After dinner, Aria had fed Minerva and realized she hadn’t written to her father since the first day. The first week of classes had been so busy for her that she’d almost forgotten. If she hadn’t remembered to write, she couldn’t imagine that Enzo or Ellie had remembered to get in touch with their father. She checked the Common Room for Enzo, but saw no sign of him. She went down to the library, remembering taking this same path with Black not too long ago. When she reached the library, she spotted Ellie, Angus, and Chinara giggling. Aria smiled - while Enzo was very friendly and extroverted, Ellie kept more to herself and was a little odd. She had worried about her making friends and fitting in, but it seemed she was doing well.

“Ari!” a smile broke across Ellie’s face and for the millionth time, Aria was floored by how beautiful her little sister was. Ellie’s Veela blood was apparent in her bright eyes, lush hair, and dazzling smile.

“Hey, _fiore._ Where’s your brother? Hey Chinara, Angus.” The other two first years waved hello.

“I don’t know.” Ellie turned to her friends. “Did he mention where he was going?” Angus shook his head, but Chinara piped up.

“At dinner he mentioned going down to the Quidditch Pitch with Sirius.”

“Sirius? As in Sirius Black?” Chinara nodded. 

“He said he was helping him practice for Quidditch tryouts.”

Aria took a shaky breath. There was no way she was letting her little brother try out for a dangerous sport like Quidditch or practice it with someone like Black. “Come on, Ellie. Let’s go get Enzo and then we’ll owl Papa.”

Ellie said goodbye to her friends and scampered to keep up with Aria’s rapid pace. “Didn’t he tell you he was going to try out?”

“Does it seem like I knew? Doesn’t he know how dangerous it is to play that stupid sport? I mean, it’s one thing to mess around with Papa at home, but these are _real_ games. People get seriously injured.” Aria didn’t know whether she was angry about Quidditch or the fact that Sirius Black was currently with her little brother. Something about it made her distinctly uneasy - _why would he do that?_ Black was never one to be altruistic, especially not to First Years. What was he playing at? Her siblings felt like an oddly intimate part of her life, and so it deeply disturbed her that Black would be involved in that aspect of her life in any way, shape, or form.

They made their way out into the cool September night, the air heavy with the promise of rain and autumn. “Ari, I’m sure Enzo was going to tell you. Why are you so upset?” Ellie’s voice was small but enough to bring Aria out of her fuming. 

“I just...I wish he would’ve told me,” she sighed. “You know I worry about you guys a lot, and Papa would have my head if I let anything happen to either of you.”

Ellie nodded, apparently satisfied with the answer, but Aria pressed on.

“And what is he thinking, gallivanting around the grounds with the likes of Sirius Black! I mean really, I thought -”

“We don’t know if they’re _gallivanting,_ Ari.” Ellie adored her older sister and admired her in every way, but when she became upset, she tended to begin speaking like a grandmother rather than a sixteen-year-old girl.

“Regardless, it is absolutely ridiculous that he’s with him.” Ellie kept quiet, but noticed that Aria seemed much more unnerved than she ever got when she was angry or upset at one of the twins. They reached the Pitch, and heard a snatch of Black’s voice cut through the night air.

“ - add some more spin, it’ll help confuse the Keeper and give it a bit of extra force.”

“Vincenzo Tomas Bellisario!” Sirius turned and saw Bellisario with Ellie in tow, looking furious. She was bathed in moonlight like Muggle paintings of the old goddess Artemis, and her ire seemed to roll off her and send ripples through the air. “What on earth do you think you’re doing?” Enzo turned considerably paler, but before he could respond, she was speaking in rapid-fire Italian. Sirius didn’t have to speak the language to know that Enzo was in deep shit.

“Ari, I was gonna tell you, honest, but I didn’t want you to worry -”

“Me? Worry? About my eleven-year-old brother being knocked off a broom that’s fifty metres high? Why on earth would I worry about that?” Sirius briefly wondered if she switched back to English because sarcasm wouldn’t be as effective in her entrancing Italian.

“Bellisario, he’s -”

“And you!” she wheeled on Sirius, and he started to realize why some people classified Veela as one of the most dangerous creatures. Her gorgeous face seemed particularly terrifying in the light of the half-moon. Even though she was twenty metres below them, he felt like recoiling. “Bringing him out here to play this - this barbaric sport! He’s eleven, Black.”

“He’s also quite good! Besides, the more he practices, the safer it is for him.” He dipped his broom towards the ground so he could land near her. Enzo followed suit, which only made Aria angrier. The last thing Enzo needed was to start taking cues from Sirius Black.

This last point apparently set her at a loss for words, because Sirius watched her fumble for the briefest of moments. “Come back inside, Enzo. We haven’t written Papa and he’ll be worried.”

“I wanna stay out here and practice some more.”

“Enzo! This is not up for discussion. Curfew for First Years is in half an hour; you need to get inside.” Sirius began to feel as though he shouldn’t be seeing this. He made eye contact with Ellie who gave him a small smile. She hadn’t said a word this whole time. He wondered what it was like to have a sibling who gave a rat’s ass about you.

“Then I’ll stay out for another twenty-nine minutes,” he said, mounting his broom.

“Vincenzo -”

“You’re not my mother,” he spat, kicking off the ground and rising above them to the level of the stands.

Aria felt as though she had been slapped. Her brother’s words stung her, deeply - she could feel the hot prickings of embarrassment as she realized Black had seen her in such a private moment mingling with her hurt from Enzo’s words. It’s true, she wasn’t their mother, but she had been like a mother to them in so many ways since they were two days old. She instantly felt shame added to the melange of negative emotions - how could she have let her motherly instincts towards Enzo eclipse his need for self-discovery and identity beyond their family? Sometimes they needed a big sister, and not a mother hen - Aria had juggled both roles for so long that it was hard to determine when to don each hat.

She turned to Black, and opened her mouth - although she didn’t quite know what she was going to say.

“Could you -”

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” he said, clearing his throat. “I’ll make sure he’s in before curfew.”

She gave a stiff nod. “Thank you.” She turned on her heel and made her way off the Pitch. Ellie lingered for a moment.

“She doesn’t get upset like that unless she thinks we’d get hurt,” she said softly, looking up at Enzo’s broom as he hovered high above their heads. “I think sometimes she doesn’t know whether to be our mother and protector or sister and friend.”

He nodded, watching her figure make its way across the grounds. He was uncomfortable, but in the way that he was when he went to the Potters’ for the first time. He’d never been so close to anything like that. “Yeah...she must love you guys a lot.”

Ellie smiled. “More than most people could imagine. Good night, Sirius. Tell Enzo I said good night too, will you?”

“Good night Ellie, and yeah, ’course.” He watched as Ellie ran to catch up with her sister, amazed at how much Ellie reminded him of her in some respects. He remounted his broom, and kicked off, quickly locating Enzo sitting in the Hufflepuff stands, slumped in defeat. He flew over and joined him.

“Are you a Hufflepuff now?”

Enzo looked up. “I don’t feel like much of a Gryffindor.”

“You? Not much of a Gryffindor? That’s funny, I think you’re exactly the kind of kid who’d make Gryffindor proud.”

Enzo turned away. “She yelled at me. She never yells.” His voice was small and tight, like the words had slipped through a lump in his throat.

Sirius began to feel a certain squirming in his stomach when Enzo brought up his older sister. Already a person who struggled with any sort of discussion of feelings, he was a bit out of his league here. He considered thumping his back and taking him back to the dorm, but something kept him rooted to the seat. Maybe it was that striking resemblance to James. _What would I say to Prongs?_ “If it makes you feel any better, she sometimes gets upset at me.”

Enzo gave a small laugh. “You? For what?”

He breathed a mental sigh of relief. He was glad that had made him laugh. “Well, one time in Fourth Year, she made T-shirts for a club that was dedicated to spreading the message that I’m a massive ponce.”

“Really?”

“Oh yeah. I’d been jumping out from places and scaring her and so she made shirts that basically said I was an arrogant berk. I think James still has one somewhere.”

“She was that upset?” Enzo was unable to believe that his sister, composed and mature as she was, could do something so...petty? Childish? It struck Sirius that he knew a very different Ariana Bellisario than Enzo did. Stars peeked out of the night sky, and he knew that if he looked, he could find Sirius, right under Orion. Somewhere out there, they were all there. Regulus, Bellatrix, Arcturus. The thought of the stars made his throat feel like it was closing a bit.

Sirius cleared his throat and gave a little laugh. “When I scared her, yeah. The shirts were just a sort of joke I think. But sometimes if I’m going to add the wrong ingredient in Potions or going to take the last danish at breakfast, she’ll get upset so I don’t do something dumb.” Enzo was quiet. “I think she was upset because she cares a lot.” He gave Enzo a nudge. “Cut your sister some slack. She cares about you and she just wants you safe. Besides, she can’t be perfect _all_ the time.”

Enzo gave him a weird look. “You think she’s perfect?”

 _Shit._ “No. No, no I only meant that she tries to be perfect at everything she does.” He stood up. “C’mon, I’ll show you the fastest way back to Gryffindor Tower.”

“A shortcut?”

Sirius got on his broom and threw Enzo a grin. “You could say that.”

Aria had gone to bed early after writing to her father and playing with Minerva a bit. She’d set a Self-Waking Charm so she’d get up to feed Minerva in the middle of the night, and fell asleep to her fight with Enzo on a loop in her head.

When her Charm woke her up, she blearily stumbled over to Minnie’s cage and found it to be empty with the door open. She grabbed the bottle and made small kissing noises for the cub. “Minnie?” she whispered, trying not to wake her roommates. It was then that Aria noticed that the door to the dorm was open; one of her roommates must’ve left it ajar. Picking up her wand, she crept down the stairs to the deserted Common Room. Rain had started coming down while she’d slept, making a soft, steady rhythm on the stone castle. “Minnie?” she clicked for her again, but there was no response. Panic began to set in; how was it that the first night she’d been responsible for her and she’d gone and lost her?

 _Maybe she went to go see Black,_ she thought. Kneazles bonded intensely, so it was possible that the cub was simply visiting him because she missed him. Deciding it was worth a shot, Aria set up the boys’ staircase, reaching the Sixth Years’ dorms. The door was also ajar, and she heard somebody snoring inside. She crept inside, silently lighting the tip of her wand. It was cleaner than she would’ve thought, given that four boys lived there, but granted, the term was barely a week old. “Minnie?” Nothing.

She looked over and saw Peter snoring in one bed, and James asleep with his glasses askew, still on his face. That left her with two possible options for Black’s bed. There was one with the curtains drawn, and another with a sleeping figure she couldn’t identify in the near-dark. She pointed her wand-tip at it, and saw brown hair. Remus. That meant Black was in the bed with the curtains drawn.

Walking on her tiptoes, Aria approached the bed and gently parted the curtain. There, shirtless and handsome and asleep, lay Sirius Black. His lips were slightly parted as his breath escaped him in even beats. Aria took a moment to revel in the muscles, firm and defined without being overly bulky. In her frenzy to find Minnie, she realized she had no clue what she would do when she had to wake him up. _Should I say something?_ She didn’t want to wake the other boys. The implications of sneaking into the Boys’ Dorms and being caught by Black’s bed were not good. She cautiously reached out a hand, placed it on his sculpted shoulder, and shook him awake.

Sirius opened his eyes and was sure he was still dreaming. It was the only plausible explanation for Ariana Bellisario to be standing by his bed, illuminated by wandlight in the middle of the night.

“Minnie’s missing.”

Sirius blinked. “What?”

Aria tried to ignore the way his sleep-filled voice was deeper and perfectly throaty. “Minnie. I went to go feed her and the cage door was open and so was the door to my dormitory and she hasn’t come when I’ve called for her and she’s gone.”

There was a beat of silence. “What the hell?”

“Come on, Black, will you please help me look for her? You guys have bonded more so maybe she’ll come if you call her,” she said, grabbing his wrist and tugging at him. He sat up, letting the sheets pool around his hips. He rubbed his eyes with his free hand and Aria took a moment to drink him in; he was all hard muscle and smooth skin.

“Okay, yeah,” he said, opening his eyes and getting a good look at her for the first time, and suddenly he was sure this was some wet dream fantasy of his meant to torture him. She was in a nightgown, red with lace and a little bow at the top and thin straps that sat daintily on her shoulders. The material shimmered in the wandlight and looked almost as silky smooth as her skin did. The dress clung to her body in all the right places and the skirt settled at her mid thigh. Fuck. If he didn’t want her badly enough before, this solidified it. Her hand was wrapped around his wrist as she pulled him up so he was standing in front of her, towering over her. It would be so easy to pull her to him and throw her on the bed…

“Grab your wand, we have to find her.” Just like that, her touch was gone and Sirius was back in the Land of the Awake. Shaking his head, he grabbed his wand and followed her out of the room, admiring the way the nightgown swished with each swift step she took. “She has to be around here somewhere, she’s not big enough yet to push through the portrait hole.”

“How’d she get out of her cage in the first place?” he asked, beginning to search the Common Room. 

“I don’t know, she must’ve lifted the latch or something.” Sirius detected a twinge of hysteria in her voice and looked up from the couch where he was searching. She was biting her lower lip and nervously waving her hands. “Minnie! Come here, sweet girl, I have your bottle!” There was no response. “Dammit!” she buried her face in her little hands.

“Hey, hey we’ll find her. She’s probably just napping somewhere,” he said crossing the room. He reached a hand out to rub her back but thought better of it; he rather liked his hands, and had no intention of losing them.

“I just can’t believe I lost her, I clearly can’t take care of anybody!” she sounded like one wrong word could bring her to tears.

Sirius thought he hated when Ariana Bellisario was aloof and cold the most, but he was wrong. He hated this; tears creeping into the edge of her voice, threatening to pour out. He felt like his gut was being twisted as he watched her teeter on the brink of losing it. He began to understand that this had very little to do with Minnie and nearly everything to do with the conversation with Enzo.

“She’s a Kneazle. They’re brilliant and stubborn and do their own thing. It’s not a big deal, we’ll find her. I promise,” he said, laying a hand on her shoulder blades, thinking that anything would be worth it if it might take away that tightness in her voice.

His hand on her back was warm in the cool September night. Despite herself, she felt the muscles in her back slowly relax, sinking into the feeling of his touch. She turned her head and looked at him, gorgeous and half naked in the moonlight that seeped through the window, casting silvery colors everywhere it touched, and gave him a small smile. There was a kind of sincerity there that made her a little scared - she’d never known Sirius Black to be particularly genuine, always cracking some sort of joke or another. Aria decided she didn’t hate it.

“Yeah. Sorry,” she gave a tight laugh and shook her head. “It’s been a weird week. Tired. Want to take that side of the room and I’ll cover here?”

“Yeah, okay.” Sirius began to make soft noises to lure Minnie out of hiding. 

Aria began to look around, bending over to check under the chairs and sofas. “So...do you happen to know if Enzo made it in before curfew?”

Her tone was nonchalant, but Sirius knew she was anything but. He turned and looked over, catching a glimpse of her perfect, satin-covered ass as she bent over to search under one of the chintz armchairs. _You pervert._ “Uh yeah,” he said, giving his throat a small clearing before continuing. “Made it with seven minutes to spare.”

She nodded. “I’m sorry about what happened on the Pitch. I shouldn’t have gotten angry with you like that or made you sit there and watch us fight.”

“It’s all good, I can admire siblings who care enough to fight with each other.”

Aria thought about his stony reaction the other day when his mother was brought up, or how she didn’t think she’d ever seen him and Regulus together in all these years. 

“Still, I hope it didn’t make you too uncomfortable or anything.”

Sirius tossed his head back and laughed. “Are you kidding? Anything was better than the other day in Potions -”

He had spoken without thinking and instantly kicked himself. _Why would you bring up the fact that you guys almost kissed, which made it very awkward the next Potions lesson?_ He was just about to apologize when he heard a giggle. He turned around and saw Ariana Bellisario, giggling as she checked on the tops of books on the floor-to-ceiling shelves for their Kneazle in her red nightie. There were many moments for Hogwarts students that felt a little too surreal for comfort, and this was definitely one of them.

“It was pretty weird, wasn’t it? I thought Slughorn was going to explode from watching us so intently,” she said, laughter making her voice bright and making Sirius’ chest feel oddly light.

“I was sure he’d pull out a chair and some popcorn,” he said, opening some drawers and peering inside with a small chuckle.

She laughed and Sirius was seized with the overwhelming desire to ask a question that even someone who was pretty fearless like him wouldn't have the balls to ask in broad daylight. It was the defeat of rational thinking at the hands of the late hour and the bizarre feeling of...was it intimacy? Whatever it was, it made him the perfect amount of reckless.

“Can I ask you something?”

Aria looked up at him, holding a drawer open. His sweatpants were low and showed off the very defined V that formed at the bottom of his torso. She’d been tired before, but now she felt wide awake. “That depends.”

“Well, will you promise you won’t try to beat me up if I ask?”

“Just ask it.”

Sirius took a small breath and considered asking something very dumb like “what’s your favorite color?” instead, but figured he was a Gryffindor, dammit. _She’s just a girl._ Just ask.

“Did you want me to kiss you in the dungeon?”

Aria’s heart nearly leapt from her throat. Her brain considered all her options; she could lie, and say that she didn’t want it and never would, or she could tell the truth and say she wanted it so badly that it made her breathless. Surely there was a third option, but her mind couldn’t quite grasp it. His eyes were beautiful and her stomach dropped as she looked into them.

“I -”

Before she could make up her mind on how she was going to finish her sentence and say it, Black held up a finger. “Do you hear that?”

Aria cocked her head, listening. There was a rhythmic, steady humming coming from one of the vases that sat empty by the window. Black looked inside, and a huge grin split across his face. “Minnie, you sly thing, you!” 

The Kneazle cub looked up at him, blinking contentedly as she lay curled up in the bottom of a very ugly vase that was painted to depict the lifecycle of a troll. He reached in and scooped her up, which only made her purring intensify. She curled against his bare chest. Sirius turned towards Bellisario, who smiled.

“Minnie!” Black brought her over to her, a sight that Aria found very attractive; a handsome, shirtless Sirius Black holding a tiny kitten? He handed Minnie over to her, stuffing his hands in pockets. He admired the way Minnie batted at some of Bellisario’s long curls, her tiny paws waving to hit them away. “Thank you for helping me find her.” She looked up at him with those big eyes and Sirius almost groaned. _How did she do that?_

“Yeah, ’course,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. His arms looked unfairly attractive when he did that, Aria decided. She gave him a smile and walked past him to the girls’ staircase “And hey, for what it’s worth, I think Enzo and Ellie think you’re pretty much the shit.” She turned around from the third step and took in the sight of him in the middle of the empty Common Room. She felt like she had just met him for the first time, yet also like he was still the same guy she’d known all these years.

“Thanks. Good night, Black.” He nodded and turned around. She watched him go and suddenly, without thinking, she stopped him. “Black.”

Surprised, he whirled around. She was still on the third step, cradling Minnie and her bottle. She took a deep breath and said three words that pretty effectively turned Sirius’ mind to mush.

“Yes, I did.”

With that, she turned and headed up for bed, leaving Sirius two steps up the stairs and completely dumbfounded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the delay! hope yall liked this one - lmk what yall think! its been a whirlwind for these two dumbasses who suck at their feelings lol


	5. Pretty Venom In My Veins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Pretty venom in my veins  
> How many ways, can I say this over  
> Always know I'll be the one you'd sink your teeth into  
> Never thought I'd taste this good to anyone but you  
> How you gonna say that, take it all back  
> Fuckin' with my head will make my heart attack  
> And it's so bad, feelin' this sad  
> Runnin' runnin' circles down a one way track 'cause  
> You know what you do"  
> -Pretty Venom (Interlude) All Time Low

In the next week, Ariana Bellisario did everything in her considerable power to forget about Sirius Black. She threw herself into her studies, Prefect duties, caring for Minnie, time with her friends, and spending time with Enzo and Ellie. She had apologized to Enzo the morning after their fight, and things were back to normal among the Bellisario siblings.

No matter how hard she seemed to try, there was still something she couldn’t shake about Sirius Black. She felt his eyes on her at meals, heard him laughing across the Common Room in the evening, smelled his intoxicating scent in Potions, and saw him everywhere she went. She was jumpy and nervous around him, and the considerable amount of time that they had to spend together meant that her nerves were rather fried by the end of the week.

It seemed that everybody was jumpy these days at Hogwarts, with people scanning the papers every morning for familiar names and faces as more bad news came with every post and _Prophet_ issue. Aria’s father wrote to her that some Muggles were found mysteriously murdered in the same neighborhood as their home in London. Ministry officials believed there was foul play involved. 

While the war waged on outside the grounds of Hogwarts, the students seemed doubly concerned with the typical going-ons of the school; the House Cup, homework, and, above all, Quidditch. It was as if the whole school had decided to be as normal as possible while they still could. The list of prospective Gryffindors for the try-outs went on for two pages, and nearly the whole house had come out on the rather chilly Saturday morning to watch the trials. Aria came with Lily to support Enzo, even though she was completely terrified. Nothing made her nervous like flying, and watching other people fly gave her vertigo on their behalf. She’d never understood the appeal of balancing on a stick of wood in the air as people chuck things at each other, but she had promised to be supportive of Enzo, so there she was.

“Remus! Peter!” Lily waved to the other two Marauders, and climbed the steps of the stands to get to them. Lily had been getting along rather well with all the Marauders - not just James.

“Hello Lily, Aria. Come to see our house’s talent?” Remus scooted over so Aria could sit next to him, with Lily on her other side.

“My little brother is trying out, so I’ll be trying not to throw up or cry the whole time,” said Aria, chewing on her bottom lip.

“Sirius said he was really good the other day,” Peter piped up from Remus’ other side. Aria had to repress the juvenile urge to ask Peter and Remus if Black had said anything else about her - the last thing she wanted was for people to get the impression that she was or even would be another notch on Black’s bedpost. She gave Peter a small smile which made the tips of his ears flame red.

“Ari!”

Ellie made her way through the stands, with Angus, Chinara, and Jenny in tow. “Hi guys, where’s Dayo?”

“He’s trying out. Seeker.” Chinara rolled her eyes. “My idiot brother is going to get knocked upside the head, and it’s either going to be by a Bludger or by me.”

Aria laughed. “Come sit, we have good seats.” The First Years filed into the row in front of them, chattering about Enzo and Dayo’s chances of getting on the team.

“Alright, Gryffindors! This is your Quidditch Captain, James Potter, speaking, coming at you from this year’s try-outs. If you’re a Slytherin, piss outta here and develop more clever spying methods. We’ll start with Chasers, then Beaters, then Keeper, then Seeker. There will be two rounds for each position, where I’ll make preliminary cuts and those who remain will advance to the next round. If needed, we can do a third round, but let’s hope it doesn’t come to that because I think we all want to get outta here before midnight, yeah? If you’re not selected as a player or as an alternate, please do not be discouraged, as we’ll be doing some clinics throughout the year so that you lot can improve. Roster’ll be announced after the final round. Alright, anybody up for the Chaser positions line up!” About half of the crowd lined up, and Aria spotted Enzo. He grinned and gave a thumbs up to somebody, and Aria followed his gaze and saw Black, smiling back and returning Enzo’s gesture.

Try-outs were a mixed bag, Aria quickly realized. Some, like one Second Year girl who didn’t make a single goal, had hardly touched a broom since their school mandated flying lessons. Others, like one Seventh Year, performed several fancy tricks as she sunk Quaffle after Quaffle through the hoops. When it was Enzo’s turn, she gripped Lily’s hand tightly. 

“Don’t worry, Ari. Take a breath.”

She watched as Enzo made eight out of the ten shots. When he finally got back down on the ground, she released a breath that she’d been holding since he’d been in the air. Lily and Aria cheered loudly, and Enzo looked up in the stands and beamed. He’d never looked so much like their father. Sirius watched as Aria cheered and whooped, making Enzo blush a little. She leaned over and said something to Lily that made Lily explode into laughter. His smile fell a bit as he saw Remus say something that made her smile. His stomach wormed a little at the sight of his best friend and Bellisario.

He didn’t have much time to dwell on it though, because prospective Beaters were called next. Sirius had never been one for stage fright, but he felt a great need to impress today. He had to do this well.

Aria watched as Black kicked off, and heard some giggles from behind her.

“God, even the way he flies is sexy! How is that possible?” a girl behind her sounded dreamy.

“I can’t believe I’m jealous of a broom,” sighed another. “Oh, to be ridden by Sirius Black…”

The group exploded into a fit of giggles, and Aria felt the overwhelming urge to tell them to shut it.

He _did_ look good when he flew, she’d give them that. He moved with all the grace and ease that so many Pure-Bloods tended to fly with, that sort of familiarity that only came with having known no other world than this one. She watched as he nailed every target, a feat that no other potential Beater managed to do. Peter, Remus, the First Years, and the girls behind her erupted into a frenzy. 

Sirius looked over with a small smirk on his lips at the stands. There, in the midst of people cheering for him, was Ariana Bellisario, clapping politely. Their eyes met, and even with a considerable amount of distance between them, he felt a shiver go down his spine.

Tryouts continued, with Dayo doing well as a Seeker. Enzo advanced to the next round for Chaser with six other Gryffindors, while Sirius advanced with four other potential Beaters. Dayo was one of the three Seekers left, but it seemed like Dayo and the other boy, a skinny Third Year, were competing for who was going to be the alternate to the impressive Seventh Year girl, Polly. “OK, so James is a Chaser, which means that there are two spots left on the first-string team and three alternates. Five Chaser spots in all. So Enzo just has to be better than two of the people and he’s on the team, right?” whispered Ellie. Aria nodded. 

“It would seem that way.”

“Who do you think will be the other Beater with Sirius?”

“I don’t know,” murmured Aria as she watched Black take a swig of water and laugh at something that Xavier Harroway, the Keeper from last year, had said to him. He tilted his head back when he laughed, something that most people didn’t really do, but only made his laugh all the more full-bodied than the typical person’s.

“He’s really good, Ari.”

“Who, Enzo? We knew that already, _fiore_.”

“No, Sirius.”

Aria tore her eyes away from Black, who had just used the hem of his shirt as a sweatrag, sending the girls behind her into a veritable conniption at the sight of his toned abdomen. “Er - yeah, I suppose he’s good.”

Lily smirked a bit as she watched her best friend check out Sirius Black. Aria was her best friend, her sister more than anything else, and she knew that for all her frostiness and ethereal Veela looks, she was still only human. “So are you enjoying Quidditch?” she teased, nudging Aria playfully.

Aria’s cheeks threatened to turn a rather patriotic shade of Gryffindor scarlet. “It’s alright, yeah.”

“Anybody in particular that you think is ‘alright’?”

Aria gave her the “shut-up-I-hate-you-and-I’ll-fill-you-in-later” look. “Smirking is not a good look on you, Evans.”

Lily turned away, but didn’t wipe the grin off her face. It seemed she wasn’t the only one experiencing an odd attraction to a Marauder.

As the try-outs went on, it became clear that Black was the best Beater followed by a Seventh Year who had been an alternate the year before, Aidan Pembley. Enzo finished fourth out of the seven potential Chasers in terms of goals scored, and looked rather dejected when he left the Pitch. Aria was immensely proud of him, and slightly relieved; if he was made an alternate, then there was less of a chance he’d get hurt. Dayo and the Third Year were both left in the dust by the Seventh Year, Polly. 

“Alright, Gryffindors, I’m going to post the team in the Common Room soon. Hit the showers - thank you to all who tried out. We’re going to have a great team!”

Everybody applauded and James took a bow.

“I want to ask Sirius if he needs any help in the shower,” stage-whispered one of the girls, sending her friends into peals of laughter.

Aria felt something twist in her stomach. _Honestly, did these girls only come out here to pant and drool over Black?_ She watched as he clapped Enzo on the back on his way off the Pitch, skin glowing in the late afternoon sun. _He certainly was pant-and-drool-worthy,_ she begrudged. For a moment she imagined him in the shower, rivulets of water making their way down the toned, muscled chest she had admired that night in the Common Room…

_Absolutely not._

Pervy daydreams aside, Sirius Black wasn’t good for much other than raising her blood pressure and pissing her off. He fulfilled his duties spectacularly well in that aspect of her life, and Aria would do everything in her power to make sure things stayed that way.

“It’s up!”

Excited chatter filled the Common Room people rushed to see the team roster that James had charmed to appear on the Gryffindor notice board at a certain time. 

Gryffindor Quidditch Roster  
Chasers: James Potter, Victoria Nguyen, and MacKenzie Flannery  
Alternates: Beatriz Garcia, Vincenzo Bellisario, and Alex Swartham  
Beaters: Sirius Black and Aidan Pembley  
Alternates: Isaak Van Dijk and Patrick Bennet  
Keeper: Xavier Harroway  
Alternate: Kathryn McFadden  
Seeker: Polly Pembley  
Alternate: Nathaniel Duckett  


Enzo’s face fell slightly when he saw that he was an alternate. He felt bad for Dayo, who hadn’t made the team at all. He quietly slipped out of the portrait hole, needing a moment to compose himself.

Sirius was strolling through the halls after showering in the locker room. He had no desire to be there when the list was posted, and knew James would be swamped with upset people who wanted to argue and pester their way onto the team, so he was simply wandering the corridors, enjoying the time to think and explore. He wondered vaguely whether Bellisario was in the Common Room to support Enzo or whether she’d fled the hubbub.

He heard a small sniff coming from a small side corridor. He backtracked and saw Enzo Bellisario sitting against the stone wall, looking upset.

“Hey, man. How’s it going?” he said, sliding down the wall onto the stone floor next to him. 

“Congratulations,” Enzo said with a genuine smile. “Why weren’t you up there looking at the list?”

“I sleep ten feet from James, I figured if I heard my name in his sleep-talk Quidditch strategies I’d know if I made the team or not.” This earned a small laugh from Enzo.

“I’m an alternate,” he said hollowly. “Dayo didn’t make the team at all.”

“Congratulations! That’s great news, man. And Dayo can try out next year and you two’ll take the Quidditch Cup by storm together.”

“I guess I’m just -”

“Enzo?”

They both looked up and saw Aria. “I’ve been looking for you. Lily and I went to congratulate you but you’d slipped out of there.”

Enzo shrugged. “I feel dumb for being disappointed. I really wanted to be on the team.” For all of Enzo’s mischief and swagger, it was times like these that Aria was reminded that he was still a kid.

“Don’t feel dumb, _caruccio_. You’re disappointed, and that’s alright. But be proud.” Aria slid down the wall on Enzo’s other side, crossing her legs in front of her. She was wearing a red skirt and her legs were tanned and long -

Sirius jumped in, partially in an effort to stop himself from admiring Bellisario’s legs. “Yeah, you know when I tried out as a First Year I didn’t make the team? James was an alternate Chaser, just like you.”

“Really?”

“Oh yeah, give it a few years and you’ll follow James’ footsteps right to being Quidditch Captain.”

Aria looked over at Black in a bit of awe. _Who was he?_ He was so sweet with Enzo and Ellie without trying. It seemed as if he didn’t even realize what he was doing. “Go find Dayo and tell him he did a good job, and then write to tell Papa the good news.” Enzo jumped up with a grin, kissed Aria’s cheek, and then bounded away.

“Thanks, guys!” he called over his shoulder as he ran away.

Sirius smiled. _Good kid. He really was like James,_ he thought absent-mindedly. The parallels were uncanny.

“Thanks for talking to him, I’m pretty out of my wheelhouse with Quidditch.” Her voice was a little stiff, but genuine. It was as if she hadn’t expected to say something nice to him. He turned and was suddenly very aware he was about two feet away from Ariana Bellisario on the floor of an abandoned corridor. 

“Yeah, he’s…” _a lot like James, the person I love and trust the most in this world_ “...a good kid.”

Aria nodded. She couldn’t tell if her mind was racing or if it was moving as if through molasses. Lily and Aria had a theory as First Years that the air in Hogwarts moved faster, humming and buzzing - but this felt different. She considered getting up, going back to the Common Room, maybe catching up on some reading, but she remained on the cold stone floor. Goosebumps pricked their way up her arms and legs. He was so close and he smelled wonderful. _What was that, cologne?_ “Congratulations on making the team.”

He grinned. “I couldn’t believe it when I saw you at try-outs. I thought you hated Quidditch.”

The thought of him noticing her made her stomach flip. “I do, but I had to see Enzo play.” Without thinking, she continued. “You seem to have quite a cult following.” She remembered the girls’ comment about him in the shower and suppressed a shiver.

He raised his eyebrows. He was a bit confused, but didn’t want to ask what she meant. In typical Sirius fashion, he deflected with a joke. “How’d you know about the naked forest dancing and virgin sacrifices they do in my honor?”

She rolled her eyes. “Believe me, if you asked, there’d be naked forest dancing involved with this crowd.”

“Oh?” Sirius still couldn’t make sense of what was going on. Why was he here, with her, having this conversation? “Do tell.”

“Oh please, acting like you don’t know about your fanclub that practically drooled over you the entire try-out,” she scoffed, standing up. _Ah._ She was referring to the group of girls that followed him around. Her skirt had ridden up slightly, and he took a moment to admire the view. 

He stood too with a grin. “Jealousy suits you, y’know.”

Her perfect pink lips parted in shock. “I won’t dignify such a ridiculous comment with a response.” Her voice was typical Bellisario: cold and a touch snobbish, but there was a small blush that crept into her face, making her look even more radiant. 

_Holy shit. She really is jealous._

“Oh come on, Bellisario. Were you a member of the droolers too?”

Her eyes flashed and he stood in the center of the corridor, facing her. They were about a foot and a half apart. They’d always had a sort of sparky tension, but right now it was almost unbearable. Sirius couldn’t quite read her face, but noticed the way her breaths were beginning to come out in little heaves.

“You’re insufferable.” Her voice was meant to be icy, but even to her own ears she sounded a little too breathy. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from him, or his angled jaw, or his striking grey eyes, or his thick hair. Her dream, the near-kiss in the dungeon, her fantasy of him the shower all jockeyed for her attention all the while she tried not to think about how broad his shoulders were. Her fingers itched to feel the powerful expanse of him, and her stomach flipped pleasantly.

“Oh admit it, love. You thought about joining the ranks of my naked forest dancers once or twice,” he teased, relishing the way her breath caught a little. Ariana Bellisario dancing naked was something he couldn’t think too hard about. A part of him was worried he’d wake up with a desperate need to wank, but he couldn’t stop himself from pushing her a little bit more.

“Come on, tell me I’m wrong.” his voice came out a rough whisper that went straight to her core. “Tell me you don’t want me, even a little bit.” He remembered her voice as she admitted that she had wanted him to kiss her in the dungeon, the feeling of her in his arms. He’d never been so turned on from just staring at a girl before, but the way she was looking at him was enough to make him lose any restraint. Sirius Black had absolutely nothing to lose, and, just by looking at her, it seemed like he had something to win.

Her mouth opened a bit, and he was sure she was going to tell him she was repulsed by him, she found him odious, but then her lips closed a little, and he saw something shift in her.

“Fuck it.”

Before Sirius could fully process that Ariana Bellisario had just repeated his very words from the dungeon to him, or that it was probably the first time in all these years he’d ever heard her use real profanity, her hands were tangled in his hair and her lips were on his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey hey yall! hope yall enjoyed - i loved writing this lmao. originally this was part of a much bigger chap but i divided them up so next one should be up soonish!! i want to apologize for the delay - college and virtual socialization is draining as FUCK. but every comment and kudos means so much to me its so crazy this is the first thing i've really written since like fourth grade and your feedback and kind words are just so appreciated so thank yall sm. hope everyone is staying safe healthy and happy xx


	6. I'm Just Needing to Lose a Little More Control

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "So hold me close enough to feel your heart beating  
> I can't even think about letting you go  
> I'm way past looking for another good reason  
> I'm just needing to lose a little more control  
> So let your kiss tear down  
> My defenses now  
> I'm not strong enough to care  
> I didn't mean to fall in love  
> Or tell you any of my secrets  
> But you caught me in a moment of weakness"  
> -Moment of Weakness, Tenille Arts

Aria stood on her tiptoes and tangled her fingers through his hair, wanting to savor how soft and thick it was in her hands. She kissed him hard, letting herself lose any sort of inhibition as she let herself be consumed by him. Sirius stood still for a second when he felt her kiss him, trying to make sense of what happened. For a terrifying moment, she worried if she’d misread the tension, and that this wasn’t something that he wanted. When she lightly tugged a lock of hair, all the neurons in his brain fired at once and with a groan, he wrapped his arms around her waist and returned the kiss with fervor.

Every one of his senses were dominated by her. The taste of her lips, sweet and addictive made him lose his mind. There were no more rational thoughts, only commands to keep chasing the high that came with her kiss. The sound of her little whimper as he traced her lips with his tongue coupled with the feeling of her whole body pressed against him had him stirring in his pants. _Fuck_ . Her scent, just as sweet as she tasted, was all-consuming. Their tongues met, and she moaned, and Sirius was sure it was the prettiest sound he’d heard.

“Jump,” he breathed against her lips. Without thinking, she complied, feeling one large hand cup her ass while the other moved to the back of her neck, deepening the kiss. From this angle, she could control the pace. One of her hands moved atop his shoulder, admiring the muscle while the other toyed with the hair at the nape of his neck. He groaned against her lips again, and her hips involuntarily moved against his at the noise.

She felt him move, and before she knew it her back was pressed up against the wall as he kissed the hell out of her. One of his hands braced himself against the wall while the other moved to squeeze her hip. Aria whimpered, needing more.

Laughter from an adjacent corridor jolted her out of her hazy reverie, and she broke the kiss, breathing heavily. His eyes were dark, like they’d been in her dream and in the dungeon. For a moment she couldn’t believe what she’d done, and then she couldn’t believe she hadn’t done it much sooner. She felt the beginnings of logic bubbling in her stomach; she didn’t do this, certainly not with him, but it felt so good and she was tired of thinking. She slid down and grabbed his shirt front, dragging him to an empty classroom.

Sirius couldn’t begin to think as she tugged him into an empty classroom, returning to kissing him before she even shut the door behind them. She pushed him against the door, running her small hands over his chest, feeling every defined muscle. _Where did she learn to kiss like that?_

She moved her lips to his jaw, planting kisses and small nips as she went. His breath was coming out in pants, and he moved his hands to rub circles with his thumbs on her tiny waist. Her planted kisses turned to licks and sucks as she made her way down his neck, and he couldn’t help but groan her name.

“Oh, Christ, Aria…”

She hummed against his neck, finding a spot that made him moan. He tilted his head so she had more access, and allowed himself to get lost in the sensations. He was harder than he’d been in his life, and all she’d done was kiss him. “Fuck, Aria,” he growled, using his grip on her hips as leverage to spin her around so her back was against the door. Through the fog in her mind, she wondered if her name had even sounded so good as it did when it was coming from his voice, tight and raspy with longing. He began his own assault on her neck, committing every gasp and shiver to memory as he sucked on the column of her throat. He found the sensitive spot below her ear, and lavished attention on it, biting and soothing it with his tongue. Her gasps turned to moans, sweet and perfectly pitched. He’d never wanted anybody so badly in his entire life.

Before he knew it, one of her hands went to the door and twisted the lock shut. Sirius felt his mouth go dry as he pulled back from her neck and took a good look at her. Her eyes were big and filled with desire. Her lips were swollen and cherry red and had never looked so tempting. How in all the world did he end up with her, here, looking like that?

She pulled out her wand from her pocket and flicked it, moving a chair under the handle of the door, barring anybody from coming in. Without breaking eye contact, she murmured a Silencing Charm and conjured a sofa, sinking onto it.

He nearly lost his mind. There she was, on a red couch in the middle of a locked classroom looking up at him through her thick, dark lashes like some sort of vixen, like she was begging for him to do something.

“Well?”

He swallowed thickly. Her voice was breathless and there was something so satisfying about seeing someone who put up a steely disposition so flushed and ready. He bent down and captured her lips, grabbing hold of her hips so he could twist her and lay her down so he was on top of her. Her fingers found their way into his hair again, twisting and tugging. Aria felt every touch of his lips, tongue, and teeth send a tingle throughout her body until every bit of energy felt like it was concentrated in her center. His thumbs rubbed little circles on her hips, and her right leg was hooked over him. Without thinking, she rolled her hips up towards him, craving more contact. 

“Fuck,” he cursed into the kiss. He nipped at her bottom lip, making her whine a little. Her fingers moved from the hair on the nape of his neck to his shirt, tugging at it, desperate to feel him.

Sirius knew that if he didn’t check, if he wasn’t sure that she was completely positive that she wanted this, he’d be the biggest asshole on the planet. He pulled back and looked into her eyes, hovering over her body. “Are you sure -”

“Take off your shirt, you idiot,” she breathed. He knelt and pulled off his shirt. She watched, breathing heavily as each new inch of skin was exposed. He looked _good._

Unfortunately, it seemed he knew it, and he gave her a cocky grin. “See something you like?”

In lieu of responding, Aria sat up and pulled him down for a kiss that made both of their toes curl. “Cocky bastard,” she murmured, running her hands over his bare chest. His hands gripped her ass, pulling her closer to him. She felt him, hard and huge, pressed against her stomach. She reached a hand down, and gently palmed him through his pants. It took every ounce of self-restraint not to finish right then and there.

“Holy fuck, Aria,” he gasped. She pushed him down into the pillows with one hand, the other still teasing his length. She kissed him as she settled into his lap so that they were both horizontal on the couch. The position allowed for her to continue her teasing with her hips, rocking back and forth on his length. She sat up and pulled her shirt over her head, revealing a bra that was lacy and black and was sure to haunt Sirius in every dream until the day he died. He gave a small hum of appreciation at her, causing her to flash him a heart-stopping grin as she reached behind her and unclasped her bra. “Holy shit,” he said quietly as she dropped the bra, revealing the most perfect breasts he could ever imagine. 

“See something you like?” she mimicked, giving a taunting swirl of her hips.

He growled and surged forward to bury his face in her chest, licking and sucking at each pretty nipple. Little gasps and whines fell from her lips, and her fingers found their way into his hair again, then they trailed down to his muscled back where they scratched lightly at his tan skin. It was a delicious mixture of too much and not nearly enough; his mouth and tongue on her breasts, his skin under her fingers, his hard length aching beneath her core. Her skirt had ridden up her thighs, and his rough hands found their way to begin toying with her hem.

She reached down and unzipped her skirt in the back, allowing the fabric to pool around her hips, exposing her toned stomach. His pants were far too tight and he itched to take them off. He sucked hard on her breast, littering marks all over her chest. There was absolutely nothing in the world that felt so good, Aria was sure of it. She reached down and tugged on his pants, desperate for more of him.

When he felt her hands on his jeans, he realized that before this went any further he had to talk to her about something. He lifted his head from her breasts and she instantly put his lips to work, kissing him deeply. “Fuck, we gotta -” he was cut off by his own groan as she managed to unzip his jeans and some of the pressure was relieved. She giggled - _fucking minx_ \- at the way his eyes fluttered shut again, and Sirius knew he had to talk to her. It was rather difficult to form a sentence when she was rolling her hips in his lap and looking at him with a tantalizing mixture of amusement and desire.

“Aria, d’you have any - Christ, love - d’you have protection? God,” he breathed, burying his face in her neck and leaving kisses everywhere he could.

“Hmm?” she hummed as he nibbled on her ear, rendering her speechless. _What had he even said? Oh yeah, protection._ “What makes you - oh God - you so sure you’d get lucky?”

“You’re soaked, love. I can feel how wet you are through your underwear, my jeans, and my underwear. It’s a pretty safe bet,” he rasped, punctuating his statement with a thrust upwards. She moaned.

“Pass me my wand, please.” he reached over and handed it to her, and heard her mumble a contraceptive spell. Ariana Bellisario, Prefect and ideal student, had practiced a contraceptive charm?

“Where’d you learn that?”

“We can’t rely on you idiots for protection, now can we?” she rolled her eyes at him. “Now I’m not going to get some horrible disease from fucking you, am I?”

“No, although I believe most women report symptoms of lovesickness and infatuation after one night with me,” he grinned cheekily.

“I cannot believe I’m still seriously considering sleeping with you after you just said that.”

“I can’t believe you’re seriously considering sleeping with me at all.”

They returned to kissing each other, and Sirius moved her so she was resting against the pillows. His mind was racing; everything from how good she looked to her impressive magical abilities to conjure a perfectly comfortable couch for sex to _if I’m not inside of her in two seconds I’m going to explode._ He knelt back between her legs and she lifted her hips, inviting him to pull down her skirt. He complied and groaned when he was met with the sight of a pair of lacy red panties, completely soaked through. “Holy shit,” he murmured. He pressed a kiss onto each of her knees before hooking his fingers on the lace and pulling them down her silky thighs. 

He felt dizzy and as if the world was spinning too fast but also felt as though nothing had ever been slower than that scrap of red lace making its way down to her knees. There was something distinctly familiar about it…

All thoughts of the panties were completely gone when he saw her, glistening and bare before him. Sirius’ breath caught in his throat as he saw her turn faintly pink at her nakedness. He growled and began licking and kissing the creamy expanse of her left upper thigh. Her hand tangled in his hair - she seemed to enjoy doing that - and he felt her hips begin to buck, searching for relief from his tongue, fingers, cock - anything. The feeling of him _so close_ to where she needed him the most was wonderful and infuriating all at once. “Please,” she whined, trying to guide his head to her center.

Sirius felt all the blood rush to his cock at the sound of a plea for him on Ariana Bellisario’s tongue. He kissed his way over to her other hipbone, leaving a trail of red from his stubbled cheeks and chin and marks across her lower stomach. His hands found her knees and gently pushed down on them so he’d have plenty of space to work with.

“God, please, I need -” she was cut off when Sirius’ broad hand began stroking her thigh, his touch teasing and light. “Please, fuck.”

Ariana Bellisario had a way of making Sirius Black completely lose control; she always had. But even Sirius never could have anticipated the way hearing her sweet voice beg and curse for him would make him completely under her spell. He flicked his dark eyes up and saw her face, gorgeous and flushed, lips parted as she breathed heavily. He wrapped his tongue around her clit, making her cry out. Aria’s mind went blank as she was overwhelmed with the pleasure. She tasted sweet, unlike anything he’d ever had in his life. His broad hand found their way up to her opening, and he teased her wetness a bit before slowly, gently, inserting a finger inside of her. “Fuck, you’re so wet for me.” The only response he got was an obscene little whine, and he returned to sucking lightly on her clit. She was tight. Like, really tight. Like, if Sirius fucked her he’d probably last about five seconds. He pumped once, twice, syncing his tongue and his finger, allowing her to adjust to it.

“More,” she gasped, totally lost to the rest of the world.

He grinned into her pussy, and he pulled back. She instantly whined from the absence of his tongue on her clit. The sight of him, shirtless and between her thighs, lips gleaming from her, was almost unbearable. He kept a fingertip inside of her, and his other hand was still braced on her knee for leverage. “What is it you want, love?”

She huffed. “You know what I want.”

“No, no I don’t. I need you to -” he ghosted his thumb over her clit, and she whimpered “-spell it out for me.”

She looked down at him, eyebrow cocked and _so close_ to giving her exactly what she needed, and she narrowed her eyes. She was a Bellisario, dammit. She didn’t beg or plead.

She also didn’t know if she’d ever needed an orgasm so badly in her life. 

“Please make me cum, please, pl-”

Before she could finish, he wrapped his tongue around her and inserted two fingers, and Aria saw stars. Her climax hit her hard, making her whole body tremble from the sheer force. Curses and moans fell from her lips as she lost herself completely to the sensations he was causing. He helped her ride the wave of her orgasm, her thighs shaking around his head as he brought her back down. _God she’s so fucking pretty,_ he thought as he felt her orgasm abate. She opened her eyes and pulled him up to kiss her with shaky hands so he was on top of her. She tasted herself on his lips and tongue, and felt his length press against her. She tugged off his jeans, sliding them down his thighs as she explored his mouth.

Sirius broke the kiss and stood up so he could take off his pants all the way, admiring the sight of her, naked except for her panties around her knees, panting with lust in her eyes. He watched as her eyes widened a bit when he took off his boxers, feeling the little ego boost. Sirius Black was insecure about more than people would think, but his appearance wasn’t included in that list. He grinned a bit, and grabbed her ankles, pulling her to the edge of the sofa. She gave a small squeak as he moved her and pulled down her thong the rest of the way.

Sirius looked down at the piece of red lace in his hands and then at her. “Holy fuck, Aria are these the same -”

“Give me those!” she tried to snatch them from his hand, but he held them out of reach. She stood up on shaky legs, cheeks red. She had been wearing the same thong that had fallen out on the Hogwarts Express.

He looked down at her, amused. “Did you wear these on purpose or something?” he teased. “I’m flattered that you thought of me when choosing your panties, love.”

“It was purely a coincidence,” she said hotly, crossing her arms.

“I understand, you wanted me to hold your panties again, I get it but -”

Aria grabbed his shoulders and spun him around so the back of his knees hit the couch. She gave a slight push on his chest so he was sitting.

_Fuck that was hot._ He looked at her in awe and amusement but mostly arousal.

She made a show of straddling him, tossing her head so all her curls went to one side. She leaned in close so that her lips just brushed his, and Sirius’ breath caught as her breasts brushed his chest.

“Still wanna joke about my panties?”

He groaned. “Not particularly.”

She gave a small hum of approval and reached down between them to grip his member. He moaned. “Good, I’d hate to take my orgasm and go -” she began using the tip of his cock to tease her entrance. Sirius’ head fell back. This was some unique combination of heaven and hell, he was sure of it. “-especially because what I’ve really wanted is you inside of me.”

If you’d asked him what his name was in that moment, he genuinely wouldn’t have been able to tell you, because she slowly lowered herself onto him. He felt her walls, impossibly tight and slick for him, and moaned. “Holy fucking shit,” he swore. She whimpered, the stretch burning slightly. Her grip on his shoulders tightened.

“Fuck, you’re big,” she gasped.

“I need you to not say anything remotely sexy until I can be sure I’m not going to finish right here,” he said through gritted teeth. His stamina was good, especially considering he was sixteen, but then again - he was sixteen and there was a gorgeous girl in his lap. She leaned down and kissed him. It was different from the others, less tongues and teeth and more lips. She sank down another inch, still kissing him. The stretch was beginning to be less painful and more pleasurable.

Even at this slow pace Sirius was entirely too close for his liking. He had to make sure she came again before he did. One hand held the back of her neck while the other moved between them and began teasing her clit. She made some sort of noise - half-moan, half-whine, whatever it was it was sexy as hell - and he pushed into her more. 

Eventually, he was fully sheathed inside of her. He planted his feet on the floor to get some leverage and began to thrust into her, tipping his head back. His fingers picked up the pace on her clit, rubbing tight circles. Her fingernails raked down his back, sending little jolts down his spine. Still sensitive from her last orgasm, she felt another one building low in her stomach as he leaned forward and captured a nipple in his mouth.

“Oh God, Sirius-”

She moaned his name and the world ran red. A pretty jumble of his name, curses, and moans fell from her lips as she unraveled in his arms, taking him with her. He felt her walls fluttering around him as she came, and he moaned deep in his throat. He thrusted up once, twice, three times as he came inside of her.

Sirius collapsed against the sofa, tugging her with him, still buried inside of her. Her head lay against his chest and his arms circled her waist. Aria winced as she eased off of him, her body bemoaning the loss of his cock. Their breathing was irregular and their bodies were covered in a thin sheen of sweat. His eyes were shut and in a matter of minutes, his breathing slowed, and he nodded off.

Aria looked up at his face, relaxed and handsome as ever, as he dozed. Her fingers traced a reddish-purple mark that adorned Sirius’ neck -

Holy shit.

She’d just had sex with Sirius fucking Black.

He had fallen asleep holding her after giving her the best orgasms of her life.

They were both currently naked on a couch in an abandoned classroom.

_Holy shit._

She sat bolt upright and began searching for her clothes. His arms were still loosely snaked around her waist Sirius opened his eyes blearily as she woke him from his half-sleeping state. “Jesus. Where’s the fire?”

Aria had just finished clipping her bra when he’d spoken, so she whirled around and held her skirt against herself, suddenly embarrassed.

“Oh my God, we - you and I-”

“It’s nothing I haven’t seen before, you don’t have to be shy,” he said, giving her a lazy grin. She picked up his pants and chucked them at his face.

“Get dressed. Oh my God I can’t believe this - where’s my underwear?” she was frantic, scanning the room. She bent down and looked. Sirius admired her ass, round and firm.

“I’m not quite ready for round two, but keep that up and I will be.”

“There will be no round two! This was a mistake, a very stupid mistake. Will you please help me look?”

He stood and tugged on his boxers, trying not to be offended. Usually after sex women weren’t quite so eager to have nothing to do with him - especially not after the best sex he’d had. He grabbed her arm and made her turn and face him. She seemed to be having trouble looking him in the eye. “You’re the one who kissed me, and locked the door, and started taking off clothes, so maybe keep that in mind, yeah?”

Her cheeks colored. No matter how good it was or how good his sex hair looked, it was a very bad idea. “We needed to get it out of our systems, that’s all.”

He raised his eyebrows. “‘Get it out of our systems’?”

She nodded vigorously. He still held onto her arm, and even the slight contact was enough to make her head swim. “Yes, and now it’s out so now we don’t have to ever worry about...any of that sort of stuff ever again.”

“‘Any of that sort of stuff’?”

“Yes, don’t you ever say anything original?” she pulled away and pulled on her shirt. Sirius flopped back down on the couch, watching her dress.

“I gotta say, love, I’ve never seen somebody so tense after two orgasms.”

“I’m pretty miraculous like that,” she mumbled, pulling on her skirt. “Where’s that stupid-”

“These?”

She looked up and saw Black holding her thong in his hand. His other arm was tucked behind his head, showing off those stupidly perfect arms. _Stupid stupid stupid._

“Yes, thank you,” she said, taking a step towards him and feeling a dull ache between her thighs. She winced slightly. 

“What’s wrong, are you hurt?” she couldn’t read him; she didn’t know if he was genuinely asking or if he was just teasing her. She scoffed and snatched the panties from him. “Look, if you want to pretend that this never happened-”

“I do,” she said, stepping into her panties. She grabbed her wand and lifted the Silencing Charm and returned the chair back to where it was. She fixed her hair. “How do I look?”

Sirius raised his eyebrows. _Gorgeous._ “I just slept with you, wouldn’t that generally mean I don’t find you completely hideous?”

She sighed. “Does it look like I’ve just slept with someone?”

He took in her flushed face, her curls that were slightly out of place, the marks that were turning purple on her neck. She looked thoroughly fucked. A certain masculine pride rose in Sirius, and he tried not to feel too pleased with himself. “Nah, just don’t let anybody see your neck.”

She huffed and walked over to the door, unlocking it. “Vanish the sofa when you leave, please.”

“Will do.”

“And Black?”

He looked up from pulling on his jeans. She opened her mouth, closed it, and then said:

“It was really good, but it can’t happen again.”

Ariana Bellisario walked out the door, and Sirius fell back onto the sofa.

_What the hell just happened?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey hey yall! i hope yall enjoyed this-my first foray into the world of smut! as always, ur feedback/kudos/bookmarks mean the world. i apologize for taking so long-between college, social life and talking to this new guy (!!!) i've kinda been neglecting these two dumbasses, but i'm really gonna try to have the next chapter up this week! stay safe and healthy xx


	7. Like You Were Never In My Bed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "You like to keep my body close when we’re walking  
> Green eyes locked onto mine when we’re talking  
> You have a tendency of telling me  
> To let this be what it’s meant to be, but  
> You might be worth it, but I don’t think I’m ready  
> ‘Cause I hid your toothbrush this morning  
> Like you were never in my bed  
> I think it’s too much, too soon"  
> -Toothbrush, Marielle Kraft

Sunday mornings used to be spent lounging in the Common Room, but with the mountains of studying and reading NEWT students had to do, Lily and Aria were sequestered to the library for the day, trying to keep up with the workload. Aria had dragged a disgruntled Lily out of bed early for a hasty breakfast in the mostly empty Great Hall and then a full day of studying under the guise of homework, but she really had an alternate motivation: she was desperate to avoid Sirius Black.

She was plagued with memories of yesterday; was it really less than 24 hours ago that she had kissed Sirius Black, touching him, feeling him, fucking him? Every time she thought about it she couldn’t believe that she’d thought with her libido instead of her perfectly fine brain. What was it about him that made her lose all the self-control that she prided herself on? Sure, he was handsome with that sort of cockiness that some people found attractive, but he’d never been genuine for a day in his life. His immaturity and arrogance were legendary, and he had spent five years teasing her. There was no logical reason why she would choose to do such a thing, especially not with _him_. Aria was under tremendous stress, and she decided that she had just chosen to not think for once. _But why him?_ Aria wasn’t blind, she knew if she had wanted good sex, there were plenty of guys at Hogwarts who were more than willing to provide. She attributed her odd choice in sex partners to the simple fact that she and Black had been tossed together a lot recently, first in Potions, then with the Kneazle, and with Enzo. It was an act of convenience more than anything else.

She looked over at Lily, who was chewing on her quill as she read over her Charms essay. How was she supposed to tell her? Lily knew her better than just about anyone, she was sure to pick up on something soon enough. Even though Lily had been getting along with the Marauders well enough recently, she had made her opinion on Black’s treatment of Snape perfectly clear in the past. Out of all the Marauders, James Potter might have been the one she interacted with the most, but Lily had no patience for Black’s bullying. Although Aria had no affection for Snape, she couldn’t deny that in the past, the Marauders had taken things a little far. To be fair, Snape had been just as at fault, spewing his blood purity nonsense and advocating for mass genocide of all Muggleborns, but Lily was rather blinded by loyalty to her childhood friend, and Snape had tried to hide it from Lily. _How am I supposed to tell her that I fucked the guy that helped to levitate her former friend above the ground in front of half of the school?_

She took a deep breath. “Lil, I have to tell you something.”

“Hmm?” her green eyes didn’t look up from the parchment.

“I uh, I need you to promise you won’t be mad or upset or judge me too harshly.”

This got her attention. “Spill.”

“Well, you know how I went to go find Enzo yesterday? After he left the Common Room?”

“Yes…?”

“Well...Black was there comforting Enzo, and then I...well, I slept with him.”

There was a beat of silence.

“With Black?”

“Yes.”

“As in Sirius?”

“Yes.”

“As in sex?”

“Yes.”

“As in sex with Sirius Black?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be the brightest witch of our age?”

“Sorry, I’m just…” her mouth fell open. “Wait a second, where’d you do it?”

Aria’s cheeks colored. “You know that little corridor with the gargoyle that’s sucking its own toes?”

Lily’s jaw dropped even further. “In a _corridor?_ ”

They had been whispering before, but Lily’s voice sounded like a shout in the quiet library when she forgot and spoke at a normal volume. A group of Seventh Year Ravenclaws a few tables away turned and looked over. Lily smiled apologetically, and then hissed: “In a corridor?”

“No, no. Well, I kissed him in the corridor-”

“ _You_ kissed _him?_ ”

“Yeah, but we hooked up in a classroom-”

“On a _desk?_ Where people _write?_ ” Lily looked slightly aghast.

“No, I...I conjured a sofa.” Aria trailed off into a slightly embarrassed mumble. She was beginning to wonder if she simply should’ve kept her mouth shut.

Lily’s look of shock changed to one of amusement. “You, Aria Bellisario, conjured a sex sofa in an abandoned classroom so you could sleep with Sirius Black?”

“I’m such an idiot,” Aria groaned, burying her face in her hands. Lily was silent for a moment.

“Well?”

“Well what?” Aria’s voice was slightly muffled by her hands.

“Was it...good?”

“Lily!”

“What? It’s a legitimate question.”

“It was...good.” _What an understatement,_ she thought wryly.

“Good?”

“Yes, good.”

“'Good', as in 'better than that Italian boy,' Giancarlo or whatever his name was?”

Aria peeked up at her. “Definitely better.”

“How did it happen?”

Aria sat up. “Aren’t you mad?”

“Of course not! Why would I be?”

Aria shrugged. “I dunno. You’re not exactly Black’s biggest fan.”

“Well, neither are you, but you still slept with him. I figure he’s grown up enough for me to tolerate his company. Besides, now that I...understand more of who...well, some people _really_ are, it’s easier for me to understand why the four of them did what they did. Still terrible, but I get it more, y’know?” her voice became clipped as it always did when the topic of Severus Snape came up. Aria reached out and squeezed her hand, and Lily gave her a small smile, and then instantly returned to business. “So, tell me, do you have feelings for him?”

“Black? God no, it was just...a moment of weakness. You know how stressed I get, and I guess I just made a dumb move.” Lily nodded, not entirely satisfied with the response, but figured she could let it slide. “It was just sex.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. It’s not going to happen again or anything, I think we needed to get it out of our systems once, and now we can forget about it.” Aria sounded like she was working on convincing herself more than anything else. Lily had known Aria, and knew that acting on whimsy was not like her; she was rational, calculated, deliberate. Even if she didn’t always know it, every move she made always had something driving it.

“Alright, I need details. So what exactly happened on this conjured sex sofa?”

Monday was cold and dreary, covering the grounds with a cold mist. Sirius felt like he had passed through Saturday night and all of Sunday in a daze, his mind rattling with questions and the memory of him and Ariana Bellisario. He poured himself some tea, blearily stirring in some sugar as James prattled on about the first Hogsmeade weekend of the term.

“-it’s Mum’s birthday in a few weeks, so we have to look for her present, Pads.”

“Hm? Yeah, yeah.” Sirius took an absent-minded sip of his tea, but it was too hot, and he burned his tongue. _Shit. What had James said? Presents. Mrs. Potter. Right._

“I’m thinking we get her one of those really nice…” Sirius didn’t even hear the rest of what James had to say, because at that moment, Bellisario swept in, talking to Lily and Marlene. Her skin did this annoying thing where even though the ceiling mirrored the misty grey sky, it had a sort of glowiness to it that was just on the other side of human. _Fucking Veela._

She sat, a few seats down and across the table from Sirius, and instantly grabbed the coffee. She gave a small smile at something that Marlene said, taking a sip from her cup with both hands firmly wrapped around it. His stomach flipped as he watched her flick her hair over her shoulder. He remembered what she had said after they’d slept together. _What the hell did ‘get it out of our systems’ even mean?_ Sirius wasn’t a fool, nor was he a stranger to sex. It was good. Really, really good. She’d even admitted that. So what was her deal? He didn’t even know what he wanted - well, that wasn’t exactly true, he couldn’t stop thinking about how incredible she felt and tasted - but she wasn’t in the Common Room all day yesterday, and now, the first time he’d seen her since they’d fucked, here she was, drinking coffee like it was any other day. 

“Pads!”

Sirius whipped his head to James, who was looking at him, a mix of amused and annoyed. “What?”

“I went on a detailed, rambling lie of a tangent about how I discovered Peter’s pornographic drawings collection of various professors and Ministry officials and you didn’t react at all. Were you even listening? What’s the point of my salacious gossip if you aren’t even listening?” James always had a flair for the dramatics, and the gloomy morning apparently had done nothing to affect his energy.

“Sorry mate. And that’s not a lie, you just haven’t looked hard enough,” Sirius refocused on James smoothly, and anybody else would’ve fallen for it. Normally this sort of comment would’ve gotten him some kind of banter back, or at least a little chuckle, but today James eyed him suspiciously.

“Hmm. Care to explain why you’ve been weird all weekend?”

“I haven’t been weird-”

“Or why you haven’t stopped looking at Bellisario since she came in?”

“I haven’t been looking at Bellisario,” he said, a bit of defensiveness creeping into his tone. He began fiddling with his tie. He remembered the way her hands had tied it for him at breakfast that one day. Then he remembered her fingers tangled in his hair while he ate her out. He suppressed a shiver.

“Bullshit. What’s going on with you two?” Sirius opened his mouth, and then shut it. It wasn’t in his nature to keep things from James, who at this point was more of an extension of his being than a friend or a brother. James’ eyes widened. “Holy fuck, something’s going on with you two?”

“What’s going on with who, now?”

Remus and Peter slipped into the bench across from them, looking curious. Sirius looked at them, and then the shocked James, and made a split-second decision. He clapped James on the back. “Nothing! C’mon Prongs, we promised to write to your mum and dad and we haven’t in a bit, let’s do that before class.” He yanked James up, who was still slightly agape, and ignoring the confused looks on Remus and Peter’s faces, he pulled James out of the hall.

Aria hadn’t even let herself register the fact that she felt Sirius Black’s eyes on her until the tingling at the base of her spine abated. She looked up and saw him dragging Potter out of the doors. He seemed to be shushing him. _Please don’t let that be what I think it might be about._

Lily followed Aria’s line of sight, and saw James cast one last bewildered glance over at the group of girls before the doors to the Great Hall shut behind them. She turned to Aria and gave a nearly imperceptible raise of her left brow.

Aria hid her slight flush in her coffee. She had told Lily, so she supposed she couldn’t hold it against Black if he told Potter. So long as they kept their big mouths shut, she didn’t particularly care as long as her poor decision didn’t become fodder for the Hogwarts rumor mill.

“Sex?! Like, actual, legitimate sex?”

“Shh! And no, Prongs, we had fake sex. The pretend kind where it’s all make-believe.” Sirius’ voice teemed with sarcasm. They were standing in the abandoned courtyard, but they were still speaking a little loud for his liking. Sirius stood with his arms crossed while James sat on one of the stone benches, forearms resting on his thighs. “Yes, sex, James.”

“Well…” James seemed to be searching for words, which was a rare sight. “This happened Saturday, like after trials? Why didn’t you say anything?”

Sirius took a breath. “Look, I wanted to, but I didn’t exactly get the impression that she wanted me to go around and post about it on the House notice boards.”

James wrinkled his brows, and they slid under the rims of his glasses. “Well, who started it?”

“What?”

“Well, I assume you two didn’t spontaneously start having penetrative sex, usually there are a few other steps involved. Who...started it?”

“Er...well, she kissed me-”

“ _She kissed you?_ ”

“Well, yeah, but...I dunno, she said we just had to get it out of our systems or something.”

“Pads, it’s not a fucking tummy bug, alright? Are you into her? Is she into you?”

“No, no, definitely not, no.” Sirius answered quickly, shaking his head. James raised his eyebrows.

“‘No’, you’re not into _her_ , or ‘no’ she’s not into _you_ , or ‘no’ to both…”

“Yes! Or, no.” Sirius took a deep breath. “‘No’, we’re not into each other.” James nodded, although he looked thoroughly unconvinced. “We’re not!”

“Okay!” James held his hands up in mock surrender. “But in all the years I’ve known you, I’ve never seen you stare at a girl like that.”

“Yeah, well, in all these years I’ve never had a girl leave less than five minutes after we were done,” he groaned, slumping next to James.

“That bad, huh?”

“That’s the thing, Prongs, it was…” Sirius struggled to find the words. ‘Good’ felt reductive, but ‘spectacular’ felt swotty. He shook his head. “She even said so.”

“Well, in that case, I suppose congratulations are in order.” Sirius gave James a playful shove. He felt lighter after telling James. People always talked about soulmates, but Sirius had never really bought it. It wasn't until Sirius met James all those years ago that he learned that his other half, the person with whom he felt the most complete could be platonic. “Look at us.” James sighed and cast a look around the empty courtyard before continuing. “How are we so pathetic?”

“Speak for yourself,” snorted Sirius. “I haven’t been madly in love with Bellisario since the first time I saw her.”

Before James could respond, the bell rang, signalling the end of breakfast. “Come on, we’ve got Potions.”

“What’s it gonna be like sitting next to Bellisario for ninety minutes after what happened?” James swung his bag over his shoulder.

“What’s it gonna be like sitting next to Evans for ninety minutes after years of pining?”

James spread his arms in mock surrender. “Hey, it’s been five years. What’s ninety more minutes?”

When Sirius entered the classroom, his sights immediately zeroed in on Bellisario, who was perched on the edge of Lily’s table. She was so small that her feet barely grazed the floor, leaving her legs to dangle. She said something that made Lily giggle, and she gave a small smile.

James watched his best friend’s face. He looked slightly dazed, but under all of it he could see that Sirius was nervous. Sirius Black, womanizer of Hogwarts and a true Gryffindor, was scared of the aftermath of sleeping with a pretty girl. Personally, James had never seen the depths of the appeal of Bellisario - sure, she was beautiful and intelligent, but she was also austere and cold. In truth, she scared him shitless - she had since they were little. Besides, it was hard to understand why so many men fell on their knees before her when he had been ardently in love with another girl.

Slughorn entered, and Aria slipped off the table. She and Lily had engaged in the fervent conversation that all good female friends know how to do when one person desperately wants to appear casual and aloof. She’d seen Black and Potter enter from her periphery, so she knew he would likely be in his seat, so she walked with her eyes down. She neared the table, and felt a tingle shoot up her spine at his proximity. _Whatever you do, don’t think about how last time you had been this close to him, you were pulling on your panties._ She still ached from the time he spent inside of her, making walking slightly more difficult than usual. Eye contact was out of the question.

He’d slept with half the school, she was just another name on a very long list. It wouldn’t be a big deal for him, so why was she making this a big deal for her? It didn’t make any sense. _Business as usual. Yes, that’s the way to do it. What am I doing, acting like I’m still doing the walk of shame? Sex is sex. You’ve had it before, you’ll have it again. Grow up._ She recalled what her father always told her: “a Bellisario holds their head high.” Steeling her nerves and quelling the jumpiness in her stomach, she tossed her head back, and sat primly in her chair, eyes fixated on the blackboard.

Sirius watched her with a kind of unabashed focus, the kind that, if she’d been paying him any mind, would’ve tipped his hand and revealed that he was not unaffected as she’d presumed. She clearly wanted nothing to do with him, but why did that sting? Surely he hadn’t been so bad that she was repulsed by him. No, even she admitted it was great. Although they’d bickered and fought for years, he didn’t think that he was such a repugnant person that she couldn’t even meet his eyes. Most days she gave a little nod, some kind of acknowledgement as they sat down. She’d even said hello to him the other week. He thought about everything, the near kiss, witnessing her fight with Enzo, the confession in the Common Room that she had wanted it. Then the words of his mother rang through his ears.

_“Everyone will see it soon. Filthy, ungrateful, disgraceful excuse of a boy.”_

His jaw clenched. _Fine. If that’s what she thinks, fuck it. She’s a good lay, but it’s not like we were friends before or even cordial most of the time. What does Aria Bellisario’s opinion of me have to do with anything?_

The air in the dungeon was icy and silent for the whole lesson.

When the bell rang, they couldn’t pack up fast enough. James and Lily were chattering on about the first Hogsmeade weekend, but the conversation was additional white noise to the buzzing in Sirius’ ears. God, she pissed him off. She got under his skin by treating him like a wall, or a chair, or the fucking floor; he was inconsequential to her. For some reason, it was the fact that she pissed him off that made him even more pissed. She was so fucking haughty, and cold, and wanted to act like he hadn’t heard her speak Italian to a Kneazle cub, or seen her look at Enzo and Ellie with all the love in the world in her eyes, or tasted her, or held her while she came. Being ignored was infuriating. Being treated like nothing was infuriating. _She_ was infuriating. _I can’t believe anyone can be so fucking stuck up, it’s honestly incred -_

His thoughts were cut short, because that moment, she slid on the strap of her bag, and he reached to catch her without thinking of it. Her hands caught themselves, one on the back of her chair, the other on his elbow of the arm that steadied her back. His hand fit perfectly into the slight curve of her lower back. His mouth went dry. 

Aria wasn’t a clumsy person. She tended to be fairly graceful, courtesy of her Veela blood, so she wasn’t used to the embarrassment that came with being a regular human being. She made a squeaking sound that was both humiliating and _thoroughly_ unbecoming of a Bellisario. The swooping sensation didn’t abate when she was steadied, in fact, it only intensified. The feeling of Black’s hands, large and sturdy on the small of her back, was...well, it was something. Whatever it was didn’t really matter, did it? His arm was firm and stupidly perfect. He’d rolled his sleeves up during the lesson, or at least she assumed so; she hadn’t noticed his forearms when he’d arrived. She realized she was gripping onto the fabric of his button up, and released her hold on him.

“Sorry,” she said, looking up at him and making eye contact for the first time since she’d left him, half-dressed on the couch. Aria didn’t know what she was expecting - it felt like she never did anymore. But there was a look of concern on his face that threw her for a loop. She fumbled for words. “I slipped.” _Really? That’s what you settle on?_ /p>

“Hazardous class, Potions. They never warn you about the slipping.”

She nodded. His hand was still on her back, and her hand still rested on the crook of his elbow. He smelled _good,_ dammit. 

“Thanks, for uh...you know,” she finished lamely. She couldn’t read him. She didn’t really know if she wanted to. Were his lips always as soft as they were when she’d kissed them and how easy would it be to find out…?

He raised his eyebrows. “Yeah.” 

That was it. His hand was gone from her, and Black left the dungeon, catching up with Lupin. How was it that he didn’t say anything else? She’d expected him to treat her as indifferently as he did all his other conquests (the thought twisted her stomach into a knot) but she didn’t realize he could be quite so cold. Before they’d slept together, he’d have made some joke about being a white knight, or how 1950s housewives always slipped on things, but now he left with a curt ‘yeah’ and nothing more.

Aria had slept with two other guys, and while she knew that the aftermath could be a little awkward, the level of indifference was almost...hostile. She tried not to feel rejected, because it’s not as though she wanted him, but it was there, like the wasp sting she’d gotten when she was four. Her mother had removed the stinger and given her a potion to heal, but Aria could still feel the burning when she remembered that day.

There was nothing for her to be upset about, and she wasn’t-not really, anyway. It was just sex. Good sex, but nothing to lose her head over. And certainly nothing to waste time or energy trying to decipher what every little word, glance, and touch meant. Aria didn’t have the patience for this, and she was perfectly content if she never got answers to some of the questions that she didn’t care about enough to ask.

If there was one thing she knew, it was that Sirius Black was a selfish, pompous, womanizing egomaniac who would go down as Ariana Bellisario’s biggest mistake.

The next day at breakfast, an owl came for Aria with two letters attached to its leg. Without even opening it, the Bellisario family crest told her exactly who it was from. One was addressed to Enzo and Ellie, and the other one was for her. She sighed.

Her father’s handwriting, perfectly aristocratic, marched across the page.

_Ariana,  
I trust that you are well. You do not write as often as I would hope, but Enzo and Ellie seem to be doing well. We have arranged for you to take appointments over your Christmas holiday, but there are some that are more pressing. On your first Hogsmeade weekend, we’d like for you to meet with Adrian Grisyeux for a drink at your uncle’s old home. I will be there to settle some issues with the estate, so I will escort you from the castle to the meeting. If your grandfather can make it, he will.  
As always, I appeal to your sense of decorum, and rest assured that you are enough of a Bellisario to understand the importance of a meeting like this one.  
Take care of yourself. Kiss Enzo and Ellie for me, _dolcezza.  
Con amore,  
_Papa_  
Lily watched Aria’s brows furrow slightly. She had recognized the Bellisario crest too, and knew Aria was less than pleased by what she’d read. “What is it?”

Aria folded the letter up and slipped it into her cloak pocket. She put a small smile on her face. “Oh nothing. Chastising me about not writing enough, you know, the usual.” She hated lying to Lily, but the thought of telling her Muggleborn best friend that her father wanted her to cozy up with a blood purist so Death Eaters didn’t target her family made her mouth feel like it was filled with sand.

Lily nodded, and then her grin turned sly. “Well, you have been a bit busy lately.” Her green eyes cast a significant look over to where the Marauders were holding court.

Aria hardly had to raise her eyebrows to convey exactly the kind of shut-the-hell-up message she wanted her best friend to get in that moment. Lily snickered into her cup of tea.

Aria looked around for the nearest coffee pot, and saw that it was a few people down, held hostage by a group of Fourth Years. She sighed and pushed back the bench, heading over.

When she approached, the groups’ conversation ground to a halt. She gave them a small smile, which caused one boy to completely miss his mouth with his sausage-laden fork. “Hi there, mind if I reach in and grab the coffee, please?”

A boy, one she didn’t recognize, handed her the pot, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. She smiled again. “Thank y-”

“Wanna go to Hogsmeade with me?”

The words were blurted and she recognized the shock in his eyes as his own words registered. Her smile became apologetic. She could tell he had not planned it, and was more taken aback by his words than she was. “I’m flattered, but I have something to do that day. Have a wonderful time.” She held up the coffee pot. The boy could see his cheeks turn red in the shiny silver. “Thank you for the coffee.”

As she turned to head back to her seat, she heard his friends erupt into laughter. Her stomach constricted.

“Grant and the Veela!”

“Don’t worry mate, you’ll be inoculated after a bit.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the boy - Grant - slip down in his seat, cheeks flaming.

“What was that all about?” Lily grabbed another slice of toast.

“Oh, some kid asked me to Hogsmeade, but my dad is making me spend time with him that day.”

“Ah yes, yet another innocent boy makes himself an utter fool in front of you,” she teased. Aria reached across the table and grabbed the toast from her.

“Believe me, if he feels foolish, then I’m afraid we’re in the same boat.” She took a bite, and then made a face. She had forgotten Lily didn’t always put butter or marmalade on toast.

“Don’t feel foolish. He asked you out, you said no. Perfectly fine for all parties involved.”

Aria’s eyes involuntarily drifted over to Black, who was wrestling Potter for a slice of ham like puppies. “Yeah. I know. I just can’t help feeling stupid.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhh! a chapter up during finals? WHO IS SHE?????? hope yall enjoyed. good stuff coming in the next chapters ;). as always, ur feedback is SO appreciated. i can't thank yall enough xxx stay safe

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Feel free to leave constructive criticism/comments!


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